Why Female Treefrogs Have Trouble Picking Mates
Researchers found choice accuracy fell from more than 75% to 20% as female frogs faced more mating calls, slowing mate selection.
- A study published in Cell Press reveals that female Cope gray treefrogs struggle to select the best mates when faced with too many options, a phenomenon researchers call 'choice overload.'
- To test mate selection, the team captured 60 female Cope gray treefrogs from ponds around Knoxville and placed them in a 6.5-foot-wide soundproof dating arena where speakers played recordings of male mating calls.
- While 77% of females chose the longer 'target' call with two options, that preference plummeted to 25% when exposed to eight different calls, showing how more options created confusion.
- Jessie Tanner, an animal behaviorist at the University of Tennessee, says this confusion levels the playing field for mediocre males because 'females weren't able to choose as assiduously as they wanted to.'
- Evolutionary theory suggests choice overload could shape species genetics by allowing males with short calls to remain in the gene pool, a phenomenon researchers believe has been underappreciated in animal behavior studies.
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38 Articles
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Why female treefrogs have trouble picking mates
Gray treefrogs live across wide swaths of the United States, ranging from Virginia, west to Texas, and north into Canada.
When male suitors abound, female treefrogs have trouble picking mates
Much like an indecisive single person on a dating app, female treefrogs struggle to pick the most desirable mates when they have too many options to choose from. According to a new study published Aug. 12 in the journal iScience, when female Cope's gray treefrogs gather around ponds during mating season to listen to large groups of males chirping in noisy "choruses," they struggle to pick the most desirable male. The researchers call this phenomenon "choice overload," and it may affect the way species evolve over time.
'Less desirable' males confuse female treefrogs looking for a mate
Too many choices is not always a good thing. Even if you are a female Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) searching for a mate. When too many desirable mates croak and screech their availability, the female frogs struggle to make the right choice. This phenomenon called “choice overload” is detailed in a study published today in the journal Cell Press, and may impact how species evolve. Cope’s gray treefrogs have a wide range. They are fou…
AGI - Cope's gray frog females, scientifically known as Hyla chrysoscelis, suffer from indecision when they have to choose a partner among too many suitors. This is demonstrated by a study, published in the magazine iScience, conducted by scientists of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. A 'rain' of calls The team, led by Claire Hemingway and Jessie Tanner, has built a soundproofed acoustic arena of two meters of diameter, placing a group …
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