Singing a Different Tune

The life forms in tropical forest ecosystems, as in all ecosystems, compete for the resources available. Members of different species may compete for a specific resource (interspecific competition), or members of the same species may compete with one another for a resource (intraspecific competition). In some cases, both types of competition occur simultaneously, with a species’ success at one type working directly against its success at the other. Such is the nightly predicament of the male tungara frog (Physalaemus pustulosus) in the tropical forests of Panama.

A predator of tungara frogs is the fringe-lipped bat (Trachops cirrhosus), which is able to detect frogs by their mating calls. This has not gone unnoticed by the tungaras, and in fact bat predation has altered the male frog’s mating behaviour. Unless faced with competition from other male frogs, a tungara is reluctant to use a complex mating call, as it makes him easier to be located by hungry bats. Complex calls, however, are preferred by the female tungaras. So the male is faced with a dilemma: sing poorly and risk being mateless, or sing well and risk being eaten. The continued existence of the species indicates that some males manage to have their mate and not be eaten too.