External and internal characters of the gular region in male (left column) and female (right column) Odontobatrachus: (a) reproductively active, calling O. natator male; (b) gravid female O. arndti; (c) male O. natator which does not sing; (d) non-gravid female O. andti. (e) A discreet strand in a non-calling O. andti male; (f) a well-developed strand in a gravid female of O. natator. Scale bar, 5 mm. Arrows indicate mandibular (filled) and episternal (unfilled) strands. Note: These differences apply to all Odontobatrachus species. Photographs by Mr. Schäfer. Credit: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1693
A team of zoologists from the Museum für Naturkunde at the Leibniz Institute for Evolutionary and Biodiversity Sciences, University of Würzburg, Germany and the NGO EnviSud Guinée, Guinea, found evidence that The gland-like tissue in the lower jaw of saber-toothed frogs may be used for communication. Their article is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Saber-toothed frogs were first described in the scientific literature only a few years ago. At the time, researchers noted that there were five known species living in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. They also noted that in addition to having fangs based on the lower jaw, the frogs also had what was described as gland-like tissue inside their mouths that followed the contours of the bone. the lower jaw. At the time, researchers suspected the tissue was likely a venom-producing gland. In this new effort, the research team took a closer look at the tissue to learn more.
They found that the tissue doesn’t connect to the fangs, it just moves closer to them. After studying the chemical composition of the tissue, they discovered that it could not be used to create venom. They also found differences in chemical composition between males and females, between species, time of year and sexual maturity of the frog. They also noted that the skin covering the tissues was thin, suggesting that chemicals could be released into the air through it. The tissue produced substances similar to the pheromones used by some insects to attract a mate.
The research team says its work so far is still in the preliminary stages. They next plan to determine whether the tissue actually constitutes a gland and, if so, what purpose it serves. They suspect the frog uses the fabric as a way to communicate sexual messages, although they have not yet formulated a theory to explain how this might work. The team also notes that their results so far suggest that communication between frogs might be much more complex than previously thought.
More information:
Marvin Schäfer et al, Species- and sex-specific chemical composition from an internal gland-like tissue of an African frog family, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1693
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