Performance and Transmitter-Receiver Trade-offs in Giant Frog Acoustic Communication

The biology of giant vertebrates has long fascinated biologists. However, the mechanisms that dictate the upper limits of animal size are not well understood. The size of an organism affects virtually all aspects of its physiology and ecology. The study of the influence of size on form and function has become a major concern in ecology and evolutionary biology [1]. This study aims to comparatively investigate different models of frogs and toads such as Conraua goliath or Pipa pipa as a model to decipher the influence of size on the form and function (performance) of: 1) the vocal apparatus, 2) hearing (the ear) which plays a crucial role in sexual selection [2]. In addition, we seek to understand the trade-off between the transmitter and receiver of sound. We will use propagation computed tomography (PCT) as a basis for the construction of a high-resolution 3D dataset. These 3D models should help to understand the biomechanical basis of vocal emission and hearing.