Browsing by Author "Bee, Mark A"
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Item Advertisement call length preferences of female Cope's gray treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis) in two-alternative choice tests(2020-07-23) LaBarbera, Katie; Nelson, Peggy B; Bee, Mark A; klabarbe@umn.edu; LaBarbera, Katie; University of Minnesota Animal Communication LabFemale Hyla chrysoscelis collected from the wild during the breeding season were tested in two-alternative choice tests for their preference between two synthetic calls, modeled closely after wild male calls, differing in their call length. This experiment was designed to examine whether females exhibit proportional processing (e.g., Weber's Law) of the acoustic signal. The data are being released along with the publication based upon them.Item A Behavioral Study of Brain Lateralization in Gray Treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis): Does a "Right-Ear Advantage" Bias Phonotaxis?(2020) Ruppert, Annika R; Bee, Mark AThe tendency for humans to characterize themselves as “right-brained” or “left-brained” emerges from the observation that the left and right hemispheres exhibit some specialization for different functions. Previous electrophysiological studies of frogs suggest they may also exhibit brain lateralization in the form of a right ear advantage (REA) for the sensory processing of conspecific advertisement calls. Because frogs must compare information from two ears to accurately localize sound sources, we hypothesized that a REA could lead to a directional bias in phonotaxis toward calling males.Item Data for: Inconsistent sexual signaling degrades optimal mating decisions in animals(2020-03-09) Tanner, Jessie C; Bee, Mark A; jessie.c.tanner@gmail.com; Tanner, Jessie C; University of Minnesota Animal Communication LabData from a series of phonotaxis tests used to investigate the effects of within-individual variation (inconsistency) in male signals and ambient chorus noise on female mating decisions in Cope's gray treefrog. This dataset is among only a few generated to examine the effects of within-individual variation in signal production on animal communication. The data are now being released in support of a publication describing our findings.Item Data for: Species recognition is constrained by chorus noise, but not inconsistency in signal production, in Cope's gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis)(2020-06-18) Tanner, Jessie C; Bee, Mark A; jessie.c.tanner@gmail.com; Tanner, Jessie C; University of Minnesota Animal Communication LabOptimal mate choice based on the assessment of communication signals can be constrained by multiple sources of noise. This dataset was created to examine the effects of two possible noise sources: ambient noise caused by the treefrog chorus and the inconsistency in signal production inherent to many animal communication systems. Our data were generated using two-choice phonotaxis tests of female Cope's gray treefrogs.Item Data supporting "Informational Masking Constrains Vocal Communication in Nonhuman Animals"(2023-01-09) Gupta, Saumya; Kalra, Lata; Rose, Gary J; Bee, Mark A; gupta333@umn.edu; Gupta, SaumyaNoisy social environments constrain human speech communication in two important ways: spectrotemporal overlap between signals and noise can reduce speech audibility (“energetic masking”) and noise can also interfere with processing the informative features of otherwise audible speech (“informational masking”). To date, informational masking has not been investigated in studies of vocal communication in nonhuman animals, even though many animals make evolutionarily consequential decisions that depend on processing vocal information in noisy social environments. In this study of a treefrog, in which females choose mates in noisy breeding choruses, we investigated whether informational masking disrupts the processing of vocal information in the contexts of species recognition and sexual selection. The associated data for this work is being released prior to the publication of the manuscript for peer review.Item Data supporting "Neural Basis of Acoustic Species Recognition in a Cryptic Species Complex"(2021-08-14) Gupta, Saumya; Alluri, Rishi K; Rose, Gary J; Bee, Mark A; gupta333@umn.edu; Gupta, Saumya; University of Minnesota Animal Communication LabSexual traits that promote species recognition are important drivers of reproductive isolation, especially among closely related species. Identifying neural processes that shape species differences in recognition is crucial for understanding the causal mechanisms of reproductive isolation. Temporal patterns are salient features of sexual signals that are widely used in species recognition by several taxa, including anurans. Recent advances in our understanding of temporal processing by the anuran auditory system provide an excellent opportunity to investigate the neural basis of species-specific recognition. The anuran inferior colliculus (IC) consists of neurons that are selective for temporal features of calls. Of potential relevance are auditory neurons known as interval-counting neurons (ICNs) that are often selective for the pulse rate of conspecific advertisement calls. Here, we took advantage of a species differences in temporal selectivity for pulsatile advertisement calls exhibited by two cryptic species of gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis and Hyla versicolor) to test the hypothesis that ICNs mediate acoustic species recognition. We tested this hypothesis by examining the extent to which the threshold number of pulses required to elicit behavioral responses from females and neural responses from ICNs was similar within each species but potentially different between the two species. The associated data for this work is being released prior to submission of the manuscript for peer review.Item Data supporting "Nonlinear processing of a multicomponent communication signal by combination‑sensitive neurons in the anuran inferior colliculus"(2017-07-26) Lee, Norman; Schrode, Katrina M; Bee, Mark A; mbee@umn.edu; Bee, Mark AThis submission is a supplement to the paper entitled "Nonlinear processing of a multicomponent communication signal by combination-sensitive neurons in the anuran inferior colliculus" by Lee et al. (2017) published in the Journal of Comparative Physiology A. We investigated how female green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea) integrate multiple spectral components present in male advertisement calls. Typical calls have a bimodal spectrum consisting of low-frequency (0.9 kHz) and high-frequency (2.7 kHz) components that are transduced by different sensory organs in the inner ear. In behavioral experiments, only bimodal calls reliably elicited phonotaxis in no-choice tests, and they were selectively chosen over unimodal calls in two-alternative choice experiments. Single-unit recordings from the inferior colliculus of awake, passively listening subjects were classified as combination-insensitive (27.9%) or combination-sensitive units (72.1%) based on patterns of relative responses to the same bimodal and unimodal calls. Combination-insensitive units responded similarly to the bimodal call and one or both unimodal calls. In contrast, combination-sensitive units exhibited both linear responses and, more commonly, nonlinear responses to the spectral combination in the bimodal calls. Nonlinearities play potentially critical roles in spectral integration and in the neural processing of multicomponent communication signals. This submission includes source data used in generating the figures presented in the paper.Item Data supporting "Perceptually salient differences in a species recognition cue do not promote auditory streaming in eastern gray treefrogs (Hyla versicolor)"(2024-05-02) Kalra, Lata; Altman, Shoshana; Bee, Mark A; latakalra94@gmail.com; Kalra, LataThis dataset corresponds to behavioral choice tests performed on the females of Hyla versicolor to investigate if this species uses perceptually salient differences in species-recognition cue (pulse rise time) to segregate the signal of a potential mate from other overlapping sounds in the environment. Females in this species chose a potential mate based on the properties of the advertisement call. Advertisement calls having slow pulse rise times (time elapsed from the beginning of a pulse to the pulses's maximum amplitude) and slow pulse repetition rate (around 20 pulses/s) are behaviorally attractive to the females. In contrast, calls having fast rise times and fast pulse rates (~40-50 pulses/s) are unattractive. Here, we exploited the subjects' inherent attractiveness for slow rise times and slow pulse rates to design interleaved pulsatile sequences ABAB (repeating at an unattractive pulse rate of 40 pulses/s) having behaviorally attractive slow (pulses 'A'), and behaviorally unattractive fast (pulses 'B') rise-times. We hypothesized that if the rise-times differences between pulses 'A' and 'B' are perceptually salient then the subjects should segregate ABAB into two sequences (A-A- and B-B-, each at an attractive rate of 20 pulses/s each). We first tested (using a two-alternative choice test; Test C3) if the differences between the two rise times were perceptually salient (subjects got a choice between A-A- and B-B-). We then gave the subjects a segregation task (using a four-alternative choice test; Test T1) wherein they got a choice between four alternatives, three of which were designed to be unattractive (AAAA, BBBB and AABB). The fourth alternative ABAB was attractive only if the subjects could segregate A-A- and B-B-, so as to perceive the "attractive" slow pulse rise time at an "attractive" rate of 20 pulses/s. We did an additional test (using a four-alternative choice test; Test C1) to confirm that subjects prefer slow pulse rise times, slow pulse rates and regular pulse-timing patterns within the calls (a four-alternative choice between AAAA, BBBB, AA-- and A-A-). For each test, we recorded if the subject responded by making a choice ('yes' or 'no'), if it responded, which alternative did it chose, and how long did it take to make the choice (choice latency). We also recorded a subject's id, the temperature at which the behavioral test was performed, and the Sound Pressure Level (SPL) of the broadcast stimuli.Item Data supporting "Vocal sacs do not act as visual cues in acoustically guided courtship in Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis)"(2020-06-22) Li, Hongyu; Schrode, Katrina M; Bee, Mark A; mbee@umn.edu; Bee, Mark A; University of Minnesota Animal Communication LabComponents in multiple sensory modalities are present in many animal signals, which provides opportunities for receivers to use them as complementary cues in communication, especially in noisy environments that impose difficulty on signal perception. In frogs, it has been suspected that females use the visual byproduct of call production - the inflation of vocal sacs - as a cue in finding individual calling males in loud choruses. This mate recognition and selection behavior was traditionally considered as acoustically guided but recently there has been rising discussion on whether it was a multimodal process. We investigated whether female Cope’s gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) use visual cues in the context of sexual communication to find and select males. We performed playback experiments in a field setting under natural light using robotic frog models as visual stimuli and examined females’ responses. Acoustic stimuli were played back in quiet, in noise, and with ambiguous acoustic features. Despite the various acoustic conditions tested in a realistic lighting environment, we did not find any evidence that females use visual cues in the context of sexual communication. We review previous reports on the use of vocal sacs as visual cues in nocturnal anurans and discuss potential reasons for the stark contrast between those reports and this research.Item Data supporting Lung-to-ear sound transmission does not improve directional hearing in green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea)(2020-09-04) Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Lee, Norman; Bee, Mark A; mbee@umn.edu; Bee, Mark AAmphibians are unique among extant vertebrates in having middle ear cavities that are internally coupled to each other and to the lungs. In frogs, the lung-to-ear sound transmission pathway can influence the tympanum’s inherent directionality, but what role such effects might play in directional hearing remain unclear. In this study of the American green treefrog (Hyla cinerea), we tested the hypothesis that the lung-to-ear sound transmission pathway functions to improve directional hearing, particularly in the context of intraspecific sexual communication. Using laser vibrometry, we measured the tympanum’s vibration amplitude in females in response to a frequency modulated sweep presented from 12 sound incidence angles in azimuth. Tympanum directionality was determined across three states of lung inflation (inflated, deflated, reinflated) both for a single tympanum in the form of the vibration amplitude difference (VAD) and for binaural comparisons in the form of the interaural vibration amplitude difference (IVAD). The state of lung inflation had negligible effects (typically less than 0.5 dB) on both VADs and IVADs at frequencies emphasized in the advertisement calls produced by conspecific males (834 Hz and 2730 Hz). Directionality at the peak resonance frequency of the lungs (1558 Hz) was improved by ≅ 3 dB for a single tympanum when the lungs were inflated versus deflated, but IVADs were not impacted by the state of lung inflation. Based on these results, we reject the hypothesis that the lung-to-ear sound transmission pathway functions to improve directional hearing in frogs.Item Data Supporting “Studying mate preferences using inertial measurement units: A validation study with treefrogs”(2023-01-09) Gupta, Saumya; Bee, Mark A; gupta333@umn.edu; Gupta, SaumyaInvestigations of mate choice continue to address fundamental questions about the mechanisms and evolution of animal behaviour. A common behavioural assay used to study acoustically guided mate choice with playback experiments is phonotaxis, a typically robust response in which a chooser approaches a sound source broadcasting acoustic signals, such as courtship songs or mating calls. Robust empirical studies of phonotaxis often require substantial laboratory facilities, such as a dedicated and sound-treated room or enclosure, in which the acoustic environment is controlled and in which animals are freely able to move about. The financial and space resources required to outfit a research laboratory to investigate phonotaxis may be sufficiently prohibitive such that some researchers are excluded from undertaking bioacoustic behavioural research. Here, we validate a new device designed to measure animal movements related to phonotaxis behaviour using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The device is small and portable; it can be constructed for less than $300 US dollars; and the build instructions and code for operation are freely available (Gupta et al., 2020, HardwareX, 8, e00116). In a series of four experiments with treefrogs, we demonstrate using the device that an IMU-based approach to measuring animal movement can replicate a broad range of findings from traditional phonotaxis experiments on species recognition and sexual selection. We conclude by discussing several possible uses for IMU-based measurements of phonotaxis.Item Frogs Exploit Statistical Regularities in Noisy Acoustic Scenes to Solve Cocktail-Party-Like Problems(2017-02-13) Lee, Norman; Ward, Jessica L; Vélez, Alejandro; Micheyl, Christophe; Bee, Mark A; lee33@stolaf.edu; Lee, NormanThis submission is a supplement to the paper entitled “ Frogs Exploit Statistical Regularities in Noisy Acoustic Scenes to Solve Cocktail-Party-Like Problems” by Lee et al. (2017) published in Current Biology. In this paper, we develop an auditory filterbank inspired by the frog peripheral auditory system to quantify the natural scene statistics of frog breeding choruses. We show that natural chorus noise exhibits a high-level of spectrotemporal correlation (comodulation) among frequencies emphasized in advertisement calls. In 4 psychophysical experiments, we demonstrate that treefrogs can exploit comodulation in background noise to mitigate noise-induced errors in evolutionary critical mate-choice decisions.Frogs experienced fewer errors in recognizing conspecific calls and in selecting calls of high-quality mates in the presence of comodulated noise. This submission includes an implementation of the frog auditory filterbank in Matlab, source data, and other Matlab code used in data analyses to generate the main and supplemental figures presented in Lee et al. (2017).Item Predictors and benefits of microhabitat selection for offspring deposition in golden rocket frogs(2018-04-02) Pettitt, Beth A; Bourne, Godfrey R; Bee, Mark A; mbee@umn.edu; Bee, Mark AThis data set originates from a field study of habitat selection by parental frogs. In many tropical frogs, offspring development and survival potentially depend on microhabitat features associated with sites that parents select for oviposition and tadpole rearing. This study investigated the importance of microhabitat features in the selection of oviposition sites versus tadpole rearing sites, as well as in determining offspring survival, in the golden rocket frog, Anomaloglossus beebei. Endemic to Guyana, this species exhibits biparental care and exclusively uses phytotelmata in bromeliads for oviposition and tadpole rearing. The data included here were used in model based inference to evaluate evidence for the hypotheses that (1) parents prioritize different microhabitat features in selecting phytotelmata suitable for oviposition versus tadpole rearing and (2) microhabitat selection can adaptively promote offspring survival. The dataset includes descriptions of bromeliad size, phytotelm height, leaf angle (indicative of location within the bromeliad), water volume, water temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, and the presence/absence of potential predators and nearby conspecifics. Compared to tadpole rearing sites, the data show that oviposition sites were found in phytotelmata associated with leaves at lower angles within bromeliads and that had smaller water volumes, lower water temperatures, higher dissolved oxygen concentrations, and more crabs. Compared with unsuccessful egg clutches, successful clutches were found in phytotelmata with lower water temperatures, higher dissolved oxygen concentrations, fewer crabs, more dragonfly larvae, and more nearby conspecifics. These data indicate that non-random patterns of microhabitat use for oviposition sites and tadpole rearing sites in golden rocket frogs are associated with specific environmental factors that promote offspring survival through a critical stage of the animals’ complex life cycle.