Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Type
Submission
Keywords
frog, chemical cues, eavesdropping, heterospecific
Department
Biology
Major
Biology
Abstract
The ability to communicate within species is a trait utilized by every organism. Using cues conspecifically creates a better chance of survival for other members of the species and increases fitness overall. However, using cues heterospecifically also poses a great advantage as animals can eavesdrop on cues released by another species. Previous studies have recorded that eavesdropping is beneficial to prey species, such as squirrels reacting to bird calls and tadpoles reacting to visual and chemical cues to avoid predation. We asked how one local and one exotic species of frog would respond to cues emitted by another local species of frog, especially considering that the exotic frog has no natural predators. We hypothesized that Pseudacis cadaverina will react to the chemical cues released by an agitated Psuedacris regilla while Dendrobates tinctorius will not. For this experiment, data were collected on the reactions of the two species to P. regilla cues. The data was found to be non-normal and non-parametric, therefore a Wilcox test was run to determine if the control and experimental frogs had differing responses. We expected the control frogs to have no reaction since there should not have been a cue to respond to, but the p-values acquired for P. cadaverina, and D. tinctorius were less than .01. This could suggest our experimental design was flawed although the two species do appear to have different responses to the cues. Understanding how animals communicate and respond to potential danger can inform how we can best conserve these species.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Lee Kats
Funding Source or Research Program
Not Identified
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
24-3-2023 2:00 PM
End Date
24-3-2023 4:00 PM
Heterospecific Anural Eavesdropping Cues
Waves Cafeteria
The ability to communicate within species is a trait utilized by every organism. Using cues conspecifically creates a better chance of survival for other members of the species and increases fitness overall. However, using cues heterospecifically also poses a great advantage as animals can eavesdrop on cues released by another species. Previous studies have recorded that eavesdropping is beneficial to prey species, such as squirrels reacting to bird calls and tadpoles reacting to visual and chemical cues to avoid predation. We asked how one local and one exotic species of frog would respond to cues emitted by another local species of frog, especially considering that the exotic frog has no natural predators. We hypothesized that Pseudacis cadaverina will react to the chemical cues released by an agitated Psuedacris regilla while Dendrobates tinctorius will not. For this experiment, data were collected on the reactions of the two species to P. regilla cues. The data was found to be non-normal and non-parametric, therefore a Wilcox test was run to determine if the control and experimental frogs had differing responses. We expected the control frogs to have no reaction since there should not have been a cue to respond to, but the p-values acquired for P. cadaverina, and D. tinctorius were less than .01. This could suggest our experimental design was flawed although the two species do appear to have different responses to the cues. Understanding how animals communicate and respond to potential danger can inform how we can best conserve these species.