title: Auditory sexual difference in the large odorous frog Odorrana graminea.
abstract: Acoustic communication is an important behavior in frog courtship. Male and female frogs of most species, except the concave-eared torrent frog Odorrana tormota, have largely similar audiograms. The large odorous frogs (Odorrana graminea) are sympatric with O. tormota, but have no ear canals. The difference in hearing between two sexes of the frog is unknown. We recorded auditory evoked near-field potentials and single-unit responses from the auditory midbrain (the torus semicircularis) to determine auditory frequency sensitivity and threshold. The results show that males have the upper frequency limit at 24 kHz and females have the upper limit at 16 kHz. The more sensitive frequency range is 3-15 kHz for males and 1-8 kHz for females. Males have the minimum threshold at 11 kHz (58 dB SPL), higher about 5 dB than that at 3 kHz for females. The best excitatory frequencies of single units are mostly between 3 and 5 kHz in females and at 7-8 kHz in males. The underlying mechanism of auditory sexual differences is discussed.
authors: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, China.
authors: Wei-Rong
authors: WR
authors: Liu
authors: Jun-Xian
authors: JX
authors: Shen
authors: Yu-Jiao
authors: YJ
authors: Zhang
authors: Zhi-Min
authors: ZM
authors: Xu
authors: Zhi
authors: Z
authors: Qi
authors: Mao-Qiang
authors: MQ
authors: Xue
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001309:Auditory Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000502:physiology*; D008839:Microelectrodes; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors