Abstract
An important aspect of hearing and acoustic communication is the ability to discriminate differences in sound level. Little is known about level discrimination in anuran amphibians (frogs and toads), for which vocal communication in noisy social environments is often critical for reproduction. This study used two-choice phonotaxis tests to investigate the ability of females of Cope's gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) to discriminate between two advertisement calls differing only in sound pressure level by 2, 4, or 6 dB. Tests were conducted in the presence and absence of chorus-shaped noise (73 dB) and using two different ranges of signal levels (73-79 dB and 79-85 dB). Females discriminated between two signals differing by as little as 2-4 dB. In contrast to expectations based on the "near miss to Weber's law" in birds and mammals, level discrimination was slightly better at the lower range of signal amplitudes, a finding consistent with earlier studies of frogs and insects. Realistic levels of background noise simulating a breeding chorus had no discernable effect on discrimination at the sound level differences tested in this study. These results have important implications for studies of auditory masking and signaling behavior in the contexts of anuran hearing and sound communication.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 4188-4195 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of the Acoustical Society of America |
| Volume | 131 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2012 |
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Sound level discrimination by gray treefrogs in the presence and absence of chorus-shaped noise. / Bee, Mark A.; Vélez, Alejandro; Forester, James D.
In: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 131, No. 5, 05.2012, p. 4188-4195.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Sound level discrimination by gray treefrogs in the presence and absence of chorus-shaped noise
AU - Bee, Mark A.
AU - Vélez, Alejandro
AU - Forester, James D.
PY - 2012/5
Y1 - 2012/5
N2 - An important aspect of hearing and acoustic communication is the ability to discriminate differences in sound level. Little is known about level discrimination in anuran amphibians (frogs and toads), for which vocal communication in noisy social environments is often critical for reproduction. This study used two-choice phonotaxis tests to investigate the ability of females of Cope's gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) to discriminate between two advertisement calls differing only in sound pressure level by 2, 4, or 6 dB. Tests were conducted in the presence and absence of chorus-shaped noise (73 dB) and using two different ranges of signal levels (73-79 dB and 79-85 dB). Females discriminated between two signals differing by as little as 2-4 dB. In contrast to expectations based on the "near miss to Weber's law" in birds and mammals, level discrimination was slightly better at the lower range of signal amplitudes, a finding consistent with earlier studies of frogs and insects. Realistic levels of background noise simulating a breeding chorus had no discernable effect on discrimination at the sound level differences tested in this study. These results have important implications for studies of auditory masking and signaling behavior in the contexts of anuran hearing and sound communication.
AB - An important aspect of hearing and acoustic communication is the ability to discriminate differences in sound level. Little is known about level discrimination in anuran amphibians (frogs and toads), for which vocal communication in noisy social environments is often critical for reproduction. This study used two-choice phonotaxis tests to investigate the ability of females of Cope's gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) to discriminate between two advertisement calls differing only in sound pressure level by 2, 4, or 6 dB. Tests were conducted in the presence and absence of chorus-shaped noise (73 dB) and using two different ranges of signal levels (73-79 dB and 79-85 dB). Females discriminated between two signals differing by as little as 2-4 dB. In contrast to expectations based on the "near miss to Weber's law" in birds and mammals, level discrimination was slightly better at the lower range of signal amplitudes, a finding consistent with earlier studies of frogs and insects. Realistic levels of background noise simulating a breeding chorus had no discernable effect on discrimination at the sound level differences tested in this study. These results have important implications for studies of auditory masking and signaling behavior in the contexts of anuran hearing and sound communication.
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U2 - 10.1121/1.3699271
DO - 10.1121/1.3699271
M3 - Article
C2 - 22559390
AN - SCOPUS:84863806526
VL - 131
SP - 4188
EP - 4195
JO - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
JF - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
SN - 0001-4966
IS - 5
ER -