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Article Dans Une Revue Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Année : 2009

The role of nocturnal vision in mate choice : females prefer conspicuous males in the European tree frog (Hyla arborea)

Résumé

Nocturnal frog species rely extensively on vocalization for reproduction. But recent studies provide evidence for an important, though long overlooked, role of visual communication. In many species, calling males exhibit a conspicuous pulsing vocal sac, a signal bearing visually important dynamic components. Here, we investigate female preference for male vocal sac coloration-a question hitherto unexplored-and male colour pattern in the European tree frog (Hyla arborea). Under nocturnal conditions, we conducted two-choice experiments involving video playbacks of calling males with identical calls and showing various naturally encountered colour signals, differing in their chromatic and brightness components. We adjusted video colours to match the frogs' visual perception, a crucial aspect not considered in previous experiments. Females prefer males with a colourful sac and a pronounced flank stripe. Both signals probably enhance male conspicuousness and facilitate detection and localization by females. This study provides the first experimental evidence of a preference for specific vocal sac spectral properties in a nocturnal anuran species. Vocal sac coloration is based on carotenoids and may convey information about male quality worthwhile for females to assess. The informative content of the flank stripe remains to be demonstrated.

Dates et versions

halsde-00401815 , version 1 (06-07-2009)

Identifiants

Citer

Doris Gomez, Nina Richardson, Thierry Lengagne, Sandrine Plénet, Pierre Joly, et al.. The role of nocturnal vision in mate choice : females prefer conspicuous males in the European tree frog (Hyla arborea). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009, 276, pp.2351-2358. ⟨10.1098/rspb.2009.0168⟩. ⟨halsde-00401815⟩
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