Diverse patterns of temporal selectivity in the evoked vocal responses of a frog from the temperate austral forest, Batrachyla taeniata (Batrachylidae)

Abstract

Evoked vocal responses of male frogs Batrachyla taeniata to synthetic advertisement calls and variants having different temporal features altered parametrically were studied to identify patterns of evoked vocal responses (EVRs) that conform with static and dynamic modes of variation and with corresponding selective processes affected by different temporal components of the acoustic signals. Frogs responded with higher call rates and longer call durations to stimuli of 25–100 pulses/s, resembling conspecific calls. This response mode was not related to spectral differences among stimuli, as frogs responded similarly to a series of stimuli built with noise instead of tones. Frogs responded with lower call rates and shorter call durations to a non-pulsed 500-ms tone having the duration of the complete call, a decrement related to the dissimilar spectral composition of the tone, restricted to a single frequency, as frogs responded strongly to a non-pulsed 500-ms stimulus built with noise instead of a 2.1-kHz sinusoidal. Frogs responded with lower call rates and shorter call durations to synthetic calls composed by 3 or less pulses. The EVRs for pulse rate stimuli series are consistent with a stabilizing selectivity pattern, whereas EVRs for pulse duration and call duration stimuli series conform with directional selectivity patterns.