Intraspecific variation in laryngeal and ear morphology in male cricket frogs (Acris crepitans)

In a previous report, the authors found significant population variation in the calls of cricket frogs (Acris crepitans) that could not be explained by geographic variation in body size alone. Here we extend that work by investigating intraspecific population variation in the morphological character...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBiological journal of the Linnean Society Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 51 - 67
Main Authors McClelland, Blinda E., Wilczynski, Walter, Ryan, Michael J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.1998
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Summary:In a previous report, the authors found significant population variation in the calls of cricket frogs (Acris crepitans) that could not be explained by geographic variation in body size alone. Here we extend that work by investigating intraspecific population variation in the morphological characteristics underlying acoustic communication in male cricket frogs from several sites in Texas. We measured the volumes of laryngeal and auditory components responsible for the generation or reception of species‐specific vocalizations in male frogs from eight populations. We found significant differences among populations in body size, as well as all the laryngeal and ear components we measured. With the exception of vocal cord and extracolumella volumes, the volumes of these anatomical structures differ among populations independently of body size as determined by a covariate analysis with snout‐vent length as the covariate. Call dominant frequency differs among populations in a clinal pattern and head width, arytenoid cartilage, vocal cord and dilator muscle volume show a similar pattern when the residuals of the regression of morphological component on SVL are assessed for this trend. The results show that both larynx and ear structures can change in size independently of body size, yielding significant geographic variation in the behavioral and physiological expressions of the acoustic communication system underlying mate choice.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-RKQS229H-2
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ArticleID:BIJ51
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SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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content type line 23
ISSN:0024-4066
1095-8312
DOI:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1998.tb01638.x