Barking tree frog (Image: Creative commons/Dawson)
HOW do you go about finding a mate? For female barking tree frogs it appears the trick is to use complex calculations to pick out the loudest male in a chorus, even when distance makes him sound quieter than a nearer rival.
To determine the females’ favourite mating call, Christopher Murphy, a behavioural ecologist at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, played captured frogs an artificial chorus of male calls from an array of loudspeakers. The females hopped towards the call they found most attractive.
Females generally preferred louder calls, probably because they indicate…
