Premium
Advertisement Call Variation in the Golden Rocket Frog ( Anomaloglossus beebei ): Evidence for Individual Distinctiveness
Author(s) -
Pettitt Beth A.,
Bourne Godfrey R.,
Bee Mark A.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/eth.12058
Subject(s) - optimal distinctiveness theory , categorization , repeatability , variation (astronomy) , psychology , discriminant function analysis , mate choice , biology , zoology , social psychology , statistics , computer science , mathematics , artificial intelligence , physics , astrophysics , mating
Individual distinctiveness in acoustic signals can allow receivers to respond appropriately to different individuals. The aim of this research was to examine signal variation and to investigate the relative importance of different acoustic properties for coding individual distinctiveness in the advertisement calls of male golden rocket frogs ( A nomaloglossus beebei ). We examined patterns of within‐individual and among‐individual variability in 760 advertisement calls of 40 males as well as repeatability in 16 additional males that were recorded on two different occasions. We examined eight call properties, and all properties exhibited significant among‐individual variation and moderate to high repeatability across days. We employed discriminant function analysis to examine individual distinctiveness statistically. These analyses assigned 79% of calls to the correct individual. Fine temporal properties, including pulse duration, pulse rate, and pulse interval, as well as the spectral property of dominant frequency, contributed most toward discrimination among individuals. These results indicate that individual male golden rocket frogs can be distinguished statistically by their advertisement calls. We use these findings to evaluate results of previous playback studies in A . beebei and to generate testable predictions regarding the potential for specific call properties to function in mate selection and social recognition.