Sexual Differences in the Auditory System of the Tree Frog <i>Eleutherodactylus coqui</i>

Abstract

Acoustic playback experiments with calling males in their natural habitat and two-choice orientation experiments with females indicate that males and females of the neotropical tree frog Elutherodactylus coqui respond to different notes in the two-note call of the male. This functional dichotomy of the two notes in the male's call reflects a difference in the distribution of the best excitatory frequencies of primary auditory neurons for the males and females. To the best of our knowledge, Eleutherodactylus is the first known example of a vertebrate in which the peripheral auditory sensitivity shows a sexual difference.