Ultrasonic communication in concave-eared torrent frogs (Amolops tormotus)

The concave-eared torrent frogs (Amolops tormotus) have highly unusual ear morphology--in males the eardrums are embedded deep inside ear cavities. In collaboration with our colleagues we investigated the functional significance of this morphological feature in hearing. Sound recordings in the field showed that males of A. tormotus produce diverse bird-like melodic calls with pronounced frequency modulations and non-linear phenomena (e.g., frequency jumps, different orders of subharmonics, and chaos) that often contain spectral energy in the ultrasonic range. The audible as well as the ultrasonic components of the species call could effectively evoke males' vocal responses, demonstrating that they can hear and respond to ultrasound. Electrophysiological recordings from the auditory midbrain confirmed the ultrasonic hearing capacity of these frogs. The recessed tympana and extremely thin tympanic membranes are adaptations for hearing ultrasound--this sensitivity may have evolved in response to the intense, predominately low-frequency ambient noise from local streams. Finally, results from the isolated laryngeal preparation in euthanized frogs revealed that the origin of call complexity and diversity lies with having a vocal system with nonlinear properties.