Decoding love song for frogs

The new study shows that frogs' gu 'for mates depends on the number of partners' chromosomes.

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New research by University of Missouri experts (USA) said, some female tree frogs can harmonize with their partner's cries with the same number of chromosomes. This finding helps shed more light on the evolutionary way of new frogs.

According to Science Daily , Professor Carl Gerhardt and colleagues Mitch Tucker studied two frog species living in Missouri, the eastern gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor) and the Cope gray tree frog (H.chrysoscelis) . He said: 'Looking at the eyes, these two frogs look exactly the same. They differ only in the number of chromosomes. The eastern gray tree frog has twice as many chromosomes as the Cope gray tree frog. For the potential partner's hearing, these two frogs are different in sound. 'These male frogs' sang 'a similar love song, but one of the two species' sang 'more slowly,' he notes.

A gray tree frog in Missouri, it is difficult to tell whether it is Hyla versicolor or H.chrysoscelis frog

In previous studies, scientists found that tree frogs with more chromosomes would have larger cell sizes, which slowed the rate of slippage. What researchers do not know is whether the frog's vocal preferences are related to the number of chromosomes.

To answer this question, experts have stimulated chromosome duplication by creating early spring temperatures during frog development. The female frog was raised until adulthood and then exposed to the male frog's synthesized cry, emitted by the computer, and these cries differed in speed. They found that the frogs jumped to the cries of the speed of male frogs with a number of chromosomes that were compatible with them, which showed the female frog's preference.'This finding shows that only chromosome numbers can control behavior and make this frog different. In turn, as the number of chromosomes increases, cell size increases, and that may be the direct cause of changes in frogs ' vocalization and preferences , 'Gerhardt added.

The research results are published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences.