Concave-eared torrent frog

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Concave-eared torrent frog
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Ranidae
Genus: Odorrana
Species:
O. tormota
Binomial name
Odorrana tormota
(Wu, 1977)
Synonyms

Amolops tormotus(Wu, 1977)
Rana tormotusWu, 1977
Wurana tormota(Wu, 1977)

Contents

Odorrana tormota, also known as the concave-eared torrent frog, is a species of frog native to China. Its distribution is restricted to Huangshan Mountains in Anhui and Jiande and Anji counties in northern Zhejiang. It occurs in fast-flowing streams and the surrounding habitats, and breeds in streams. [1] The informally assigned common name for frogs in this genus (and for frogs in certain other genera) is torrent frog .

Taxonomy

This species was formerly placed in the genus Amolops and later on separated in a monotypic genus Wurana. It was eventually recognized to belong in the genus Odorrana where it is perhaps closely related to O. versabilis and the long-snout torrent frog (O. nasica) which also was for long placed in Amolops. [2] The informally assigned common name for frogs in this genus (and for frogs in certain other genera) is torrent frog

Ultrasonic communication

Concave-eared torrent frog is the first frog (and the first non-mammalian vertebrate) demonstrated to both produce and perceive ultrasonic frequencies. These frogs' preferred habitat is adjacent to rapidly moving water which produces perpetual low-frequency background noise. Thus, the use of high-frequency calls is believed to facilitate intraspecific communication within the frogs' noisy environment. [3]

Concave-eared torrent frogs have extremely thin eardrums recessed in their ears, which allows for the ear bones that connect the drum to sound processing part of the ear to be shorter and lighter. Most frogs have thick eardrums close to the surface of the skin and can only hear frequencies below 12 kilohertz. Concave-eared torrent frogs have been recorded chirping at 128 kHz.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Amolops</i> Genus of amphibians

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<i>Amolops marmoratus</i> Species of amphibian

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Amolops aniqiaoensis, commonly known as the Aniqiao torrent frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae that is endemic to China. It is only known from the vicinity of its type locality, Aniqiao (阿尼桥) in Mêdog County in the southeast of Tibet.

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<i>Amolops torrentis</i> Species of frog

Amolops torrentis, commonly known as the torrent sucker frog or the little torrent frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae and genus Amolops that is endemic to China, specifically only on the island of Hainan. They are most likely to be found in streams and surrounding wetland areas. Males have high-pitched mating calls, which are favored by females. Glands on this species' skin can secrete toxins. This species suffers from parasitism and habitat loss. Currently it is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN and is protected by law in China.

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Odorrana exiliversabilis is a species of frogs in the family Ranidae that is endemic to southeastern China where it is found in Fujian, western Zhejiang, and southern Anhui provinces. These frogs can be found in mountain forest streams and are common in suitable habitat. The species is not considered threatened by the IUCN.

<i>Odorrana graminea</i> Species of amphibian

Odorrana graminea, the large odorous frog, inhabits fast-flowing streams in elevated mountainous regions of Southern China and Northern Indochina. It is one of 56 species in the genus Odorrana. Male O. graminea are noted for their ultrasonic call characteristics and are one of three frog species able to detect ultrasonic frequencies, likely evolved to facilitate communication amidst noisy streams and waterfalls. Studies on O. graminea courtship vocalizations suggest female preference for increased proportion of nonlinear vocal phenomena (NLP).

Frogs and toads produce a rich variety of sounds, calls, and songs during their courtship and mating rituals. The callers, usually males, make stereotyped sounds in order to advertise their location, their mating readiness and their willingness to defend their territory; listeners respond to the calls by return calling, by approach, and by going silent. These responses have been shown to be important for species recognition, mate assessment, and localization. Beginning with the pioneering experiments of Robert Capranica in the 1930s using playback techniques with normal and synthetic calls, behavioral biologists and neurobiologists have teamed up to use frogs and toads as a model system for understanding the auditory function and evolution. It is now considered an important example of the neural basis of animal behavior, because of the simplicity of the sounds, the relative ease with which neurophysiological recordings can be made from the auditory nerve, and the reliability of localization behavior. Acoustic communication is essential for the frog's survival in both territorial defense and in localization and attraction of mates. Sounds from frogs travel through the air, through water, and through the substrate. Frogs and toads largely ignore sounds that are not conspecific calls or those of predators, with only louder noises startling the animals. Even then, unless major vibration is included, they usually do not take any action unless the source has been visually identified. The neural basis of communication and audition gives insights into the science of sound applied to human communication.

<i>Odorrana</i> Genus of amphibians

Odorrana, commonly known as odorous frogs, is a genus of true frogs (Ranidae) from East Asia and surrounding regions. Many of these frogs inhabit fast-flowing mountain streams, and they typically have a remarkably pointed snout, as evidenced by common names like tip-nosed frog and scientific names like nasica or nasutus.

<i>Wijayarana</i> Genus of frogs

Wijayarana is a group of true frogs found in Southeast Asia. Their common name is Wijaya cascade frogs. Many are commonly known as "torrent frogs" after their favorite habitat - small rapid-flowing mountain and hill streams -, but this name is used for many similar-looking frogs regardless of whether they are closely related.

References

  1. 1 2 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2020). "Odorrana tormota". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T58226A48442236. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T58226A48442236.en . Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. Cai et al. (2007)
  3. Feng, A. S.; Narins, P. M.; Xu, C. H.; Lin, W. Y.; Yu, Z. L.; Qiu, Q.; Xu, Z. M.; Shen, J. X. (2006). "Ultrasonic communication in frogs". Nature. 440 (7082): 333–336. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..333F. doi:10.1038/nature04416. PMID   16541072. S2CID   2364920.

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