The scientists have made a bizarre discovery about the mating behavior of tungara frogs.
They say when male frogs make mating calls to entice their female partners, in the process they unknowingly give invitation to their predators as well. As much as the mating calls woo the female frogs, they attract frog-eating bats. Scientists say mating calls gives a signal to the bats that its meal is calling them for a feast.
Correlating the bizarre finding with humans, study author Halfwerk explained, “When you try and make your love song and all of a sudden, yeah, you’re screwed because someone is listening in on your call by using a completely different communication channel.”
Frogs produce small ripples in the ponds along with puddles where they gather while making a matting call. Their hungry predators use a form of sonar zero to trace them.
How frogs unknowingly call their predators?
These frogs are very small with measurement less than an inch. They make mating calls during the sun set in the rainforest. They create ripples on the water’s surface. These ripples are created while making calls because of vocals sacs that inflate and deflate like a pulsing balloon. These ripples give open invitation to bats that are the natural predators of the frog. Rachel Page, a scientist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, said in a statement that
“The frog, however, smells the danger. It stops the calls immediately as soon as it sees a bat flying by. But unfortunately, the water ripples helps these frog-eaters to detect them as these communications medium continues giving signals for another few seconds.
