Friday, February 12th, 2010

Listening to Frog Love Songs

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African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis). Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons contributor TimVickers.

In this segment, Ira talks with Columbia University biologist Darcy Kelley about her work listening to the courtship songs of Xenopus laevis, the South African clawed frog. The underwater songs of these frogs sound like a series of repeated clicks, and are used to signal sexual receptivity and unreceptivity, dominance and territoriality. What can the love songs of South African frogs tell us about communication and the brain?

Guests

Darcy Kelley
Harold Weintraub Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Columbia University
New York, New York

Related Links

Segment produced by:Charles Bergquist

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