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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1986 Mar;83(5):1379–1382. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.5.1379

Neuroanatomy influences speciation rates among anurans

Michael J Ryan 1,*
PMCID: PMC323079  PMID: 16578789

Abstract

Evolutionary divergence among animal courtship signals is an important component of the speciation process. In anurans, the preferential response of females to the mating call of conspecific males often maintains reproductive isolation among populations. Much of the information in the call is initially processed in the inner ear, and there is considerable variation in the structure of this organ among lineages of frogs. This variation is responsible for differences in the frequency range to which frog species are sensitive and thus influences the frequency range over which mating calls can effectively diverge. Data suggest that this influence of neuroanatomy on mating call divergence is partly responsible for the different rates of speciation among lineages of frogs.

Keywords: amphibian papilla, auditory neurobiology, macroevolution, mate recognition

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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