Snake-like bird hisses induce anti-predator responses in a frog

Some snakes emit hissing calls which are imitated by birds to deter potential predators. However, the effect of these snake and bird hisses on anuran risk recognition is not yet explored. Here we hypothesize that these hisses may advertise dangers to frogs and evoke their anti-predator responses. We...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC ecology and evolution 2024-10, Vol.24 (1), p.126-8, Article 126
Main Authors: Zhao, Longhui, Qin, Yuanyu, Jin, Yanjun, Wang, Jichao, Liang, Wei
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic properties
Alarm reaction
Animals
Anti-predator response
Anura - physiology
Behavior
Birds - physiology
Frogs
Hissing call
Mimicry (Biology)
Predatory Behavior - physiology
Ranidae - physiology
Snakes
Snakes - physiology
Sound playback
Vocal mimicry
Vocalization, Animal - physiology
Zitting cisticola
Zoological research
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Some snakes emit hissing calls which are imitated by birds to deter potential predators. However, the effect of these snake and bird hisses on anuran risk recognition is not yet explored. Here we hypothesize that these hisses may advertise dangers to frogs and evoke their anti-predator responses. We used little torrent frogs (Amolops torrentis) as subjects and conducted sound playbacks to test their anti-predator behaviors. We found that little torrent frogs changed their calling behaviors during sympatric snake hiss playbacks, but showed no response to white noise and allopatric snake hiss playbacks. They did not respond to sympatric avian hiss that has low acoustic similarity with snake sounds. However, they decreased calling activity in response to sympatric avian hiss that has high acoustic similarity with snakes. As compared to other treatments, more individuals ceased calling during the playbacks of the highly similar bird hiss. These results suggest that frogs may recognize risks from snake and snake-like hissing calls and perform anti-predator responses.
ISSN:2730-7182
2730-7182
DOI:10.1186/s12862-024-02312-4