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Mating Calls From Frogs Also Attracts Its Predators

By Kamal Nayan | Update Date: Jan 24, 2014 10:02 AM EST

Frogs' mating calls, that is to attract their partners has also a deadly unintended effect on the frog-eating bats, according to a new study. 

Researchers cited an example of tiny brown, tungara frog that makes unique mating calls with intentions to have sex with female counterparts. They observed that the calls, that come out as a series of whines and 'chuck' sounds attracted bats and other predators. 

"They produce two kinds of calls-a simple one, and a complex one," said Rachel Page, a researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama who's been studying the species for several years in a press release. "The basic one is this whining sound, and then they make it complex by adding these 'chuck' noises. A whine is necessary and sufficient to bring in a female, but chucks make the call more attractive."

The chucks are similar sound to a peacock's plumage for a male frog in love. 

The research conducted by researchers based in United States, the Netherlands and Panama, noted that the calls made a mark in the form of radiating circle of ripples which could be identified by predatory bat species. 

"The frogs call as conspicuously as they can to get mates," Page explained. "But in the course of calling, they're also making themselves vulnerable to predators, because bats can more easily localize calls with chucks."

A project led by Wouter Halfwerk, also looked at the acoustic and tactile effects of the frogs' calls on the fringe-lipped bats. 

"The frogs have developed a big larynx to produce very low and loud sounds," said Wouter, according to smithsonian.com. "In addition, they possess a conspicuous vocal sac that's used to recycle air quickly for calling, and as air is shuttled back and forth into the vocal sac, the movement makes ripples on the water surface."

The study has been published in the journal Science

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