science

City frogs boast sexiest love songs, experts say


Sex in the city is harder for male frogs who have to create more complex and ‘sexier’ mating rituals to attract a female than their peers in rural areas

  • Male tungara frogs create complex sounds to appeal to females as a mate 
  • They live in both built-up and rural areas around Panama City 
  • Scientists studied their calls in both habitats to look for any differences  
  • They found city-dwellers are forced to add more layers and details to their calls  

Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline

City frogs have to work harder than their rural peers to find a mate, according to experts. 

Male tungara frogs in built-up areas produce more complex and ‘sexier’ mating displays to impress females. 

These animals are native to central and south America and use their distinctive mating calls to attract females.

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 Male tungara frogs in built-up areas produce more complex and 'sexier' mating displays to impress females. These animals are native to central and south America and use their distinctive mating calls to attract females

 Male tungara frogs in built-up areas produce more complex and 'sexier' mating displays to impress females. These animals are native to central and south America and use their distinctive mating calls to attract females

 Male tungara frogs in built-up areas produce more complex and ‘sexier’ mating displays to impress females. These animals are native to central and south America and use their distinctive mating calls to attract females

The researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) said the frogs – dubbed the ‘acoustic equivalents of peacocks’ – can add extra elements to their love songs to lure the females in.

Scientists played recordings of male tungara frog calls in urban and forest locations and monitored the number of approaching females, predators and parasites using remote, infrared-sensitive cameras.

‘Tungara frogs sound a bit like pinball machines,’ said Wouter Halfwerk, assistant professor at Vrije University in Amsterdam, and visiting scientist at STRI. 

‘To their simple tun sound, they can add extra elements like the sound, gara, to make complex calls: tun gara gara – hence their name.

‘Some people call tiny tungara frogs the acoustic equivalents of peacocks. 

‘They are nothing to look at, but just like male peacocks have fancy tails to attract females, tungara frogs add extra sounds to their calls to lure females in.’ 

They found that urban males call at higher rates using more complex and conspicuous calls than forest frogs.

Researchers also found that when given the choice, three-quarters of females chose the speakers playing the call of an urban male compared to a forest one.

When the team took frogs from the city into the forest they found urban males made their calls simpler, but forest frogs took longer to develop more complex calls when introduced to urban environments.

Scientists played recordings of male tungara frog calls in urban and forest locations and monitored the number of approaching females, predators and parasites using remote, infrared-sensitive cameras

Scientists played recordings of male tungara frog calls in urban and forest locations and monitored the number of approaching females, predators and parasites using remote, infrared-sensitive cameras

Scientists played recordings of male tungara frog calls in urban and forest locations and monitored the number of approaching females, predators and parasites using remote, infrared-sensitive cameras

They found that urban males call at higher rates using more complex and conspicuous calls than forest frogs. Researchers also found that when given the choice, three-quarters of females chose the speakers playing the call of an urban male compared to a forest one (stock)

They found that urban males call at higher rates using more complex and conspicuous calls than forest frogs. Researchers also found that when given the choice, three-quarters of females chose the speakers playing the call of an urban male compared to a forest one (stock)

They found that urban males call at higher rates using more complex and conspicuous calls than forest frogs. Researchers also found that when given the choice, three-quarters of females chose the speakers playing the call of an urban male compared to a forest one (stock)

The study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, said that the city frogs had fewer predators and parasites but also fewer females to entice, which might explain why their calls were more complex and ‘sexier’.

STRI staff scientist and study co-author Rachel Page said: ‘Just as we change our social relationships in cities, animals are changing their relationships and their behaviour in the radically altered biological communities we are creating across the globe.’

Models predict that 70 per cent of the world’s population will be in a city by 2050, according to the United Nations. 

Animals will need to adapt in order to survive in the changing world and the tungara frogs are proof this can happen. 





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