Overview

We use frogs as models to investigate basic questions in animal behavior and in comparative hearing and sound communication. Acoustic communication is critically important in the social and reproductive behaviors of frogs. We are particularly interested in understanding how the frog auditory system processes signal information in noisy environments. We investigate this in the contexts of female mate choice and male-male competition. Frogs are a powerful model system for addressing such issues because (i) male frogs signal in large breeding aggregations, they use acoustic signals to defend calling sites, and they have a relatively small repertoire of stereotyped acoustic signals; (ii) female frogs choose mates based primarily on the acoustic properties of male signals; (iii) both male and female frogs are amenable to field and laboratory playback studies using real and computer-generated signals; and (iv) hearing and sound communication in frogs can be studied at multiple levels, from broad evolutionary patterns to the responses of single neurons in the brain. Our research takes an integrative and cross-disciplinary approach to ask questions across all of these levels. Learn more about ongoing research in the lab using the links below!