Female large odorous frogs (Odorrana graminea) prefer males with higher nonlinear vocal components

Abstract

In anurans, the complexity of courtship calls may affect female mate choice. The current study suggests that nonlinear phenomena (NLP) components can contribute to increasing complexity in courtship calls and attracting female attention. The results of a recent study showed that calls of large odorous frog ( Odorrana graminea ) contained NLP components. However, whether the nonlinear components of courtship calls in O. graminea improve male attractiveness remains unknown. We hypothesized that female O. graminea would prefer males producing calls with a higher proportion of NLP components (P‐NLP‐C). To test this hypothesis, we recorded the advertisement calls of 28 males and confirmed that the P‐NLP‐C was significantly positively related to body size. We also measured the body size of natural amplectant males and non‐amplectant males in the field and found that amplectant males had larger body sizes than non‐amplectant males, and the results of two‐choice amplexus experiments similarly revealed a female preference for males with larger body sizes. Additionally, phonotaxis experiments also revealed that females preferred male calls with a high P‐NLP‐C. The results suggest that a higher P‐NLP‐C in calls can enhance male attractiveness, and the P‐NLP‐C may provide key information about male body conditions for female O. graminea . Our study provides a new insight for better understanding the role of NLP in anuran mate selection.

The vocalization of the red junglefowl is a signal of body size and individual health

“…Empirical research on vertebrate vocal communication suggests that acoustic characteristics (such as call or syllable repetition rates) may provide information about the quality of the vocalist during sexual interactions ( Hardouin et al 2007 ; Mason and Burns 2015 ; Favaro et al 2017 ). In several amphibians and birds, the fundamental frequency and formant dispersion are important acoustic features associated with body size ( Chen et al 2022 ; Marcolin et al 2022 ). However, rigorous comparisons of body size and vocal frequency in mammals are rare.…”