Meeting Abstract
For many animals there are rapid physiological and behavioral transitions that occur when females oviposit. In many species of treefrogs gravid females actively search out and approach males based on the quality of their calls. Females preferences can be easily assessed using phonotaxis experiments. However, immediate after oviposition female responsiveness to male calls decreases dramatically and females will no longer respond to male vocalizations. In this study we asked whether there are concomitant changes in circulating hormone levels and the sensitivity of the auditory periphery to common elements of male vocalizations. In this talk I will discuss our surprising results that peripheral auditory sensitivity, in some cases, appears to increase following oviposition. It is not yet clear whether this difference is the result of hormonal changes affecting the periphery or whether changes in motivational state may influence background physiological noise and response to paralytics. Future work will focus on teasing apart these effects to understand the processes that mediate the dramatic behavioral changes that occur within the 24 hours in which oviposition occurs.
