ANURAN COMMUNICATION

Download or read book ANURAN COMMUNICATION written by RYAN MICHAEL J and published by Smithsonian Books (DC). This book was released on 2001-05-17 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, 25 scientists from around the world review the most recent advances in the study of how frogs and toads communicate. The contributors - who are experts in disciplines including animal behaviour, developmental biology, endocrinology, evolution, ecology and neurobiology - examine this amphibian order's vocal, visual and chemical signals, the physiology and energetics of their production, neural processing, related behaviours, and evolutionary implications. As the chapters demonstrate, research developments have led to further understanding of the role of the anuran larynx in sound production, how the anuran brain recognizes sound, and how both of these processes are influenced by the animal's physiological state. The contributors also discuss male-to-male call strategies as well as how female preferences for call variation contribute to sexual selection, speciation and hybridization. The text presents material about kin recognition abilities and the surprising range of visual displays by tropical anurans, and examines how the inherent structure of the auditory system might generate sensory biases that influence signal evolution.