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Science 6 November 1981:
Vol. 214. no. 4521, pp. 677 - 678
DOI: 10.1126/science.214.4521.677
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Articles

Bat Predation and the Evolution of Frog Vocalizations in the Neotropics

MERLIN D. TUTTLE 1 and MICHAEL J. RYAN 2

1 Vertebrate Division, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53233
2 Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Langmuir Laboratory, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2072, Balboa, Panama

Bat predation has probably had an important influence on the evolution of frog vocalizations in the Neotropics. The rate at which fringe-lipped bats capture frogs is significantly higher when the frogs are calling. These bats respond to a wide variety of calls from edible frogs, and, when simultaneously presented with a choice, choose the recorded call of a palatable species over that of a poisonous species and the call of a small species over that of one too large to capture. Thus the selective advantages of loud, rapid mating calls in anurans are balanced by an increased risk of predation.

Submitted on November 4, 1980


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)