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The call-timing algorithm of the white-lipped frog,Leptodactylus albilabris

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Summary

  1. 1.

    The call-timing algorithm of the white-lipped frog,Leptodactylus albilabris, was studied in the field using playback of conspecific advertisement calls (‘chirps’) recorded with a digital electronic device developed for these studies.

  2. 2.

    A call refractory period is present. The interval between the onsets of successive chirps from one individual is always greater than this period of time.

  3. 3.

    Call timing is characterized further by a delayed, post-stimulus inhibition period during which a subject does not initiate a chirp. The calling gap produced by this delayed inhibition seems to be necessary for continued chorusing, and thus may be an important component of intraspecific communication in this species.

  4. 4.

    Calling males show spontaneous chirp interval distributions that suggest an underlying periodic call oscillator with noise or random variability.

  5. 5.

    Call timing was investigated also in one individual ofLeptodactylus melanonotus. Data from this frog suggest that call timing in this species also involves a noisy periodic call oscillator, a refractory period, and delayed, post-stimulus inhibition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intercampus Graduate Group in Bioengineering, University of California at San Francisco and University of California at Berkeley, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA

    Steven W. Moore

  2. Electronics Research Laboratory, University of California, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA

    Edwin R. Lewis

  3. Biology Department, University of California, 90024, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Peter M. Narins & Pamela T. Lopez

Authors
  1. Steven W. Moore
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  2. Edwin R. Lewis
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  3. Peter M. Narins
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  4. Pamela T. Lopez
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Moore, S.W., Lewis, E.R., Narins, P.M. et al. The call-timing algorithm of the white-lipped frog,Leptodactylus albilabris . J. Comp. Physiol. 164, 309–319 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612991

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00612991

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