title: Synthetic rainfall vibrations evoke toad emergence.
abstract: Toads occupy underground refugia during periods of daily or seasonal inactivity, emerging only during rainfall [1]. We test the hypothesis that rainfall-induced vibrations in soil are the cues that trigger the emergence of toads from underground. Using playback experiments in the absence of natural rainfall in native habitats, we observed that two Iberian toad species (Pelobates cultripes and Bufo calamita) emerged significantly earlier than controls when exposed to low-frequency soil vibrations that closely mimic those of rainfall. Our results suggest that detection of abiotic seismic events are biologically relevant and widespread in arid-zone anurans. These findings provide insights into the evolutionary role played by the two low-frequency-tuned inner-ear organs in anuran amphibians - the amphibian papilla and sacculus, both detectors of weak environmental vibrational cues.
authors.affiliation: Fonoteca Zoológica. Dept. de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, 28006, Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: rmarquez@mncn.csic.es.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Márquez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Beltrán
authors.affiliation: Fonoteca Zoológica. Dept. de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, 28006, Madrid, Spain; Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB UMR 7205 CNRS-MNHN-UPMC-EPHE, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, F-75005, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Llusia
authors.affiliation: Programa de Fisiología y Biofísica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 70005, Correo 7, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Penna
authors.affiliation: Departments of Integrative Biology & Physiology, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Narins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D011891:Rain; D012987:Soil; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D012987:Soil