Individual variation in call amplitude of male túngara frogs

Túngara frogs are a model organism for studies on communication and sexual selection. Calling behavior and frequency structure have been studied in detail in the field and in the lab. Call amplitude has received less attention, however, because of the difficulties involved in dealing with the complexity of the acoustics of natural environments. In this study, we circumvented the problem by monitoring the frogs under controlled acoustic environments in the lab, and have analyzed differences in call amplitude over the course of a single night and across multiple nights. We asked if differences in call intensity between males were consistent along the night and among nights. We used a computerized monitoring system to record and analyze all calls produced by 10 male frogs during 2 months in the laboratory. We are currently analyzing the data but preliminary results indicate that differences among males are consistent within a night but might fluctuate over the season. This finding will introduce a novel angle to the analysis of male-male competition, that should allow us to better explain findings on male mating success and improve the current understanding of the reproductive behavior of frogs