Flirting female frogs blink to beckon potential princes

The female concave-eared torrent frog ( Odorrana tormota ) may not have eyelashes, but that doesn’t stop her from batting her lubricous lids at potential mates. These beady-eyed amphibians can be found on the banks of noisy streams throughout China, where the rapids would drown out ordinary croaks and chirps. So, males and females of this species have both evolved to produce and hear high-pitched mating calls that can be heard over the rushing din to signal that they’re seeking a suitor. But how does one jumping Juliet single out a ribbiting Romeo know to let him know she’s interested? In a study published today in Current Biology , researchers report that female frogs blink—and often wink—at them, a subtle gesture (seen above) that encourages the males to assume a mating position. Further experiments confirmed that male frogs were more likely to approach blinking females than unblinking ones. Although scientists have traditionally considered eyeblinks to be a social signal used only by humans and some other primates, the new research suggests this behavior might be more common in the animal kingdom than previously thought.
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news