Behavioral and Neurogenomic Responses to Acoustic and Visual Sexual Cues are Correlated in Female Torrent Frogs

Diverse a nimal species use multimodal communica tion signals to coordina te reproductive behavior.Despite active research in this field,the brain mechanisms underlying multimodal communication remain poorly understood.Similar to humans and many mammalian species,anurans often produce auditory signals accompanied by conspicuous visual cues(e.g.,vocal sac inflation).In this study,we used video playbacks to determine the role of vocal-sac inflation in little torrent frogs(Amolops torrentis).Then we exposed females to blank,visual,auditory,and audiovisual stimuli and analyzed whole brain tissue gene expression changes using RNAseq.The results showed that both auditory cues(i.e.,male advertisement calls)and visual cues were attractive to female frogs,although auditory cues were more attractive than visual cues.Females preferred simultaneous bimodal cues to unimodal cues.The hierarchical clustering of differentially expressed genes showed a close relationship between neurogenomic states and momentarily expressed sexual signals.We also found that the Gene Ontology terms and KEGG pathways involved in energy metabolism were mostly increased in blank contrast versus visual,acoustic,or audiovisual stimuli,indicating that brain energy use may play an important role in response to these stimuli.In sum,behavioral and neurogenomic responses to acoustic and visual cues are correlated in female little torrent frogs.

Age Structure of Two Species of Odorous Frogs(Odorrana margaretae and Odorrana grahami)

Variation in age structure and body size benefits are identified to understand the evolution of life history.Here,we estimated the age structure and body size of two species of odorous frogs(Odorrana margaretae and Odorrana grahami)by using skeletochronology.The ages at sexual maturity of O.grahami and O.margaretae in both sexes were 1 and 2 years,respectively.For both sexes,the maximum age observed in O.margaretae was six years.For O.grahami,the maximum age observed in males and females were 4 and 5 years,respectively.Males and females did not differ in mean age in the two species.The average body size of both species considerably differed between sexes,with females being larger than males.The body size of females was also larger than that of males when the effect of age was removed.We also found positive correlations between body size and age within each sex in O.margaretae,but only for female in O.grahami.The female-biased sexual size dimorphism of the two species suggested that fecundity selection for larger female size may increase the reproductive output.

Frogs

A frog(蛙) is a kind of amphibians(两栖动物). Frogs live both in land(陆地) and in water. They try their best to find and eat off(吃掉) a lot of insects(昆虫) every day. The farmers always praise(称赞) them, "Frogs are protectors(保护者) of crops(庄稼)." In the cold weather, frogs have to hibernate(冬眠) under the mud(软泥), the root(根) of a tree or a place in a hole(洞). When it gets warmer, they will come to the fields again.

Population Variation and Food Habits of Ranid Frogs in the Rice-Based Cropping System in Gujranwala Region,Pakistan

The current study aims to investigate the population variation and food habits of ranid frogs in the rice-based cropping system in District Gujranwala,Pakistan.The population in the study area was estimated using capture,mark and release method whereas food habits of the species were studied by analysis of stomach contents.The results showed the highest average population was found during August 2009(93.10±18.64/ha) while the lowest from December 2008 to February 2009.Maximum seasonal populations existed in summer 2009,whereas winter 2008 sizes were at a minimum.Stomach content analysis of the species revealed percent frequency(% F) of occurrence of insects(80.3),earthworms(28.5),whole frogs(15.8),bone pieces(22.5),rodents(1.66),vegetation(5.0),soil particles(13.3) and some unidentified material(7.5) in all the stomach samples.Most frequently consumed prey items were insects(30% by volume),although frogs also preyed upon conspecifics and rodents.Insects recovered from the stomach contents were identified as belonging to Orthoptera,Lepidoptera,Coleoptera,Diptera,Odonata and Homoptera as well as the class Archnida.Insects recovered from the stomach contents were compared to those captured from the study area.

Flexibility as a Strategy for Avoiding Call Overlap in Male Anhui Treefrogs

Male-male vocal competition is critical for mating success in anuran species;however,it remains unknown that how males regulate their competitive strategies dynamically during competition because calling is highly time-consuming,energetically demanding and likely to increase predation risks.Since different parts of calls will encode different information for vocal communication,we hypothesized that competitive strategies of male frogs may be modulated by the temporal and spectral features of different call notes.To test this hypothesis,the natural advertisement calls(OC),its modified versions with the first call note replaced by white noise(WN)or other notes and with the fifth call note replaced by WN,were played back to the Anhui tree frogs(Rhacophorus zhoukaiyae).Results showed that 1)males produced more competitive calls in response to acoustic stimuli compared to their baseline calling during silence;and 2)males emitted more non-overlapping calls compared to overlapping calls in response to the acoustic stimuli.These results are consistent with the idea that males are flexible to acoustic signals and their competition strategies are modulated dynamically by social contexts.

Circadian Rhythm and Intersexual Differences in Auditory Frequency Sensitivity in Emei Music Frogs

In anurans, calling behaviour is strongly seasonal and circadian. Previous studies have revealed that a uditory sensitivity in frogs exhibits seasonal plasticity, and electroencephalographic signals exhibit highly correlated circadian patterns;of which, the circadian rhythm remains unknown. In this study,the circadian rhythm and intersexual differences of auditory sensitivity were tested in the Emei music frog(Nidirana daunchina). This was achieved by comparing thresholds and latencies of auditory brainstem responses(ABRs) evoked by tones and clicks stimuli between male and female frogs during the day and at night,respectively. Our results revealed that both auditory thresholds and latencies had no differences between day and night except the la tencies in 3.5–4.0 kHz frequencies. However, the thresholds of tone pip evoked ABRs differed significantly between male and female frogs from 2.5 to 5.0 kHz. This demonstrated that the auditory sensitivity of Emei music frogs exhibits sexual dimorphism at high frequencies, with female frogs exhibiting greater auditory sensitivity than that of male frogs. Simultaneously, the power spectra of male advertisement calls are matched well with the frequency range of auditory sensitivity in male and female frogs,which supports the matched filter hypothesis. Our study enhances the understanding of circadian plasticity and sexual dimorphism of auditory sensitivity in frogs.

Brain size predicts foraging and escaping abilities in the paddy frogs

Dear Editor,Selective pressures emerging from the environmental complexity can drive variation in vertebrate brain size(Sol et al.2005;Sayol et al.2016).It is generally agreed that larger brains can confer better cognitive abilities when species are faced with complex environments(Roth et al.2010;Sayol et al.2016).Indeed,there is evidence that artificial selection on large-brained individuals has enhanced learning abilities such as numerical abilities and spatial mate search and schooling behavior in guppies(Kotrschal et al.2013,2015;Vega-Trejo et al.2020).

Bioavailability and tissue distribution of Dechloranes in wild frogs(Rana limnocharis) from an e-waste recycling area in Southeast China

Dechlorane Plus （DP）,a flame retardant used as an alternative to decabromodiphenylether, has been frequently detected in organisms, indicating its bioaccumulation and biomagnification potential in aquatic and terrestrial species. However, little data is available on the bioaccumulation of DP in amphibians. Dechlorane Plus and its analogs （DPs） were detected in the liver, muscle and brain tissues of wild frogs （Rana limnocharis）, which were collected from an e-waste recycling site, Southeast China. DP, Mirex, Dec 602 and a dechlorinated compound of DP （anti-Cll I-DP） varied in the range of 2.01-291, 0.650-179, 0.260-12.4, and not detected （nd）-8.67 ng/g lipid weight, respectively. No difference of tissue distribution was found for syn-DP, Mirex and Dec 602 between the liver and muscle tissue （liver/muscle concentration ratio close to 1, p 〉 0.05）. However, higher retention was observed for anti-DP and anti-Cll1-DP in the frog muscle relative to the liver tissue （liver/muscle concentration ratio 〈 1, p 〈 0.05）. Additionally, the blood-brain barrier was found to work efficiently to suppress these compounds entering brain tissues in this species （liver/brain concentration ratio 〉 l, p 〈 0.05）, and the molecular weight was a key factor impacting the extent of the blood-brain barrier. Compared to levels in the muscle and brain tissue, a preferential enrichment of syn-DP was observed in the liver tissue, suggesting the occurrence of stereo-selective bioaccumulation in the wild frog.

Occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in edible frogs (Rana species) sold for human consumption in Hanwa frog market, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Objective: To determine the occurrence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in edible frogs (Rana spp.) sold at the Hanwa frog market, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 117 frogs (Rana spp.) were randomly collected based on consent and availability at the market. The intestinal contents from the frogs were examined by staining flotation and sedimentation smears with modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique and microscopy of the oocysts. Results: Overall, 35.9% of frogs sampled from the Hanwa frog market were positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts. There were more Cryptosporidium oocysts detected by sedimentation test (28.2%) than flotation test (23.9%). There was no significant statistical association between sex of frogs and oocyst detection (χ2 = 0.5349, P > 0.05). Also, there was no correlation between the weights of frogs and the sizes of the Cryptosporidium oocysts detected (r = 0.0109, P > 0.05). Nevertheless, female frogs (40%) and frogs within the weight range 170–219 g were more infected with Cryptosporidium (66.7%). Oocysts size range 6.10–7.00 μm had the highest frequency of 10 (23.8%). By size 28.2% of the oocysts detected suggested infection with Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium maleagridis. Conclusions: This study has established that edible frogs (Rana spp.) sold at the Hanwa frog market for human consumption were infected with Cryptosporidium spp. which constitutes a valid public health risk especially for immunocompromised individuals.

Extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs cleared way for modern frogs

Subject Code:C04With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,a collaborative study by Chinese and American biologists led by Prof.Zhang Peng(张鹏)from Sun Yat-Sen University shows that nearly nine out of 10species of frog today have descended from just three lineages that survived the

Reconsidering sex differences during place learning in tungara frogs

In tungara frogs, female mate choice requires remembering the location and/or calls of preferred males who advertise from fixed positions within a breeding pond. A previous study found that, when solving a place discrimination task in the laboratory, female tCingara frogs were able to learn a visual cue to solve the task, whereas males were not. In that task, male performance appeared to be inhibited, in part, by their attempt to use egocentric cues. We tested whether the sex difference in place learning previously reported would generalize to other training parameters with different cues available by eliminating the potential to use egocentric cues and increasing the number of trials per day. As before, frogs were given a choice between a red or yellow door, one of which led to shelters and return to their home cage. In the current testing conditions, we detected a preference for the red door;thus, we only considered frogs rewarded to the yellow door. Training was associated with an in crease in correct choices and an in creased preference for the yellow door. However, there was no evide nee for a sex d iff ere nee in learni ng. In summary, un der the curre nt training conditions, we fou nd that the appare nt female advantage in place learning was no Ion ger evide nt. Future studies that in vestigate sex d iff ere nces in cue pref ere nee and/or ability to switch among cues will further illuminate the conditions under which sex differences in learning are manifest in tungara frogs.

A New Species of the Amolops mantzorum Group (Anura: Ranidae: Amolops) from Northwestern Hunan Province, China

We described anew species of the Amolops mantzorum group(Anura:Ranidae) from northwestern Hunan Province,China based on morphological and molecular evidence.The new species differs from its congeners by a combination of the following characteristics:moderate body size of SVL 403-409 mm in adult males(N=3),and 52.6-57.7 mm in adult females(N=3);head length about equal to or larger than head width(HDL/HDW 1.01-1.03);skin on dorsum smooth;dorsolateral folds absent,but developed a series of elongated glands forming an incomplete line;dense small spiny tubercles on lower flanks,and sparse flat tubercles on upper flanks;skin on belly slightly granular,posterior half of ventral surface of thigh glandular;tympanum indistinct,small,covered by glandular skin;presence of dense spiny tubercles around the mouth corner;vomerine teeth present,attached on two oblique ridges;presence of supernumerary tubercles below the bases of fingers Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ;several protruding tubercles around the cloacal region,with a pair of larger tubercles on sides of the anus;webs on each side of toe Ⅳ reaches the region between third subarticular tubercle and digit;and absence of vocal sacs and linea masculine in males.

A New Species of Theloderma Tschudi,1838(Amphibia:Rhacoporidae)from Central Java Allied to T.horridum(Boulenger,1903)

Species diversity of the genus Theloderma has been extensively studied in recent decades,with the majority of newly described species hailing from the Indochina region.We describe a new species of mediumsized Theloderma based on molecular and morphological evidence from lowland forest in the southern part of Central Java Province,Indonesia,that is highly similar to and considered cryptic within the T.horridum group.A phylogenetic approach shows that this population is a distinct genetic lineage and can be distinguished from its congeners by the absence of vomerine teeth,moderate irregular blunt warts and studded with calcified asperities on the dorsal skin,a distinct color pattern,and a distinct denticle formula in the tadpole.Although the range of the new species is known only from Central Java,it cannot be ruled out that it may extends into adjacent areas,such as other parts of Java and Sumatra.

牛蛙的生态养殖技术

牛蛙的生态养殖受到了养殖者的关注与重视。文章结合安徽省宿松县的实际情况,介绍了牛蛙(Rana catesbeiana)的生态养殖技术,包括牛蛙养殖场址的选择、养殖池的建造、养殖模式,以及常见的红腿病(Red-leg disease of frog)的防治措施,可供养殖者参考。

On the Validity of the Generic Nomen Liuixalus Li, Che, Bain, Zhao, and Zhang, 2008 (Anura: Rhacophoridae)

Dear Editor,The genus Liuixalus Li,Che,Bain,Zhao,and Zhang,2008 is a group of small-bodied Asian rhacophorid tree frogs and currently includes six species distributed in southern China and northern Vietnam(AmphibiaChina,2022;Pham et al.,2018;Qin et al.,2015).The type species of Liuixalus,L.romeri(Smith,1953),was originally assigned to the genus Chiromantis by Smith(1953)based on morphology.However,using molecular phylogenetic analysis,Li et al.(2008)found that C.romeri formed its own clade with an unidentified tree frog species,which was a sister group of the remaining taxa of the subfamily Rhacophorinae.

Test Case Prioritization in Unit and Integration Testing:A Shuffled-Frog-Leaping Approach

Both unit and integration testing are incredibly crucial for almost any software application because each of them operates a distinct process to examine the product.Due to resource constraints,when software is subjected to modifications,the drastic increase in the count of test cases forces the testers to opt for a test optimization strategy.One such strategy is test case prioritization(TCP).Existing works have propounded various methodologies that re-order the system-level test cases intending to boost either the fault detection capabilities or the coverage efficacy at the earliest.Nonetheless,singularity in objective functions and the lack of dissimilitude among the re-ordered test sequences have degraded the cogency of their approaches.Considering such gaps and scenarios when the meteoric and continuous updations in the software make the intensive unit and integration testing process more fragile,this study has introduced a memetics-inspired methodology for TCP.The proposed structure is first embedded with diverse parameters,and then traditional steps of the shuffled-frog-leaping approach(SFLA)are followed to prioritize the test cases at unit and integration levels.On 5 standard test functions,a comparative analysis is conducted between the established algorithms and the proposed approach,where the latter enhances the coverage rate and fault detection of re-ordered test sets.Investigation results related to the mean average percentage of fault detection(APFD)confirmed that the proposed approach exceeds the memetic,basic multi-walk,PSO,and optimized multi-walk by 21.7%,13.99%,12.24%,and 11.51%,respectively.

Quantitative algorithm for airborne gamma spectrum of large sample based on improved shuffled frog leaping-particle swarm optimization convolutional neural network

In airborne gamma ray spectrum processing,different analysis methods,technical requirements,analysis models,and calculation methods need to be established.To meet the engineering practice requirements of airborne gamma-ray measurements and improve computational efficiency,an improved shuffled frog leaping algorithm-particle swarm optimization convolutional neural network(SFLA-PSO CNN)for large-sample quantitative analysis of airborne gamma-ray spectra is proposed herein.This method was used to train the weight of the neural network,optimize the structure of the network,delete redundant connections,and enable the neural network to acquire the capability of quantitative spectrum processing.In full-spectrum data processing,this method can perform the functions of energy spectrum peak searching and peak area calculations.After network training,the mean SNR and RMSE of the spectral lines were 31.27 and 2.75,respectively,satisfying the demand for noise reduction.To test the processing ability of the algorithm in large samples of airborne gamma spectra,this study considered the measured data from the Saihangaobi survey area as an example to conduct data spectral analysis.The results show that calculation of the single-peak area takes only 0.13~0.15 ms,and the average relative errors of the peak area in the U,Th,and K spectra are 3.11,9.50,and 6.18%,indicating the high processing efficiency and accuracy of this algorithm.The performance of the model can be further improved by optimizing related parameters,but it can already meet the requirements of practical engineering measurement.This study provides a new idea for the full-spectrum processing of airborne gamma rays.

Shuffled frog leaping algorithm with non-dominated sorting for dynamic weapon-target assignment

The dynamic weapon target assignment(DWTA)problem is of great significance in modern air combat.However,DWTA is a highly complex constrained multi-objective combinatorial optimization problem.An improved elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II(NSGA-II)called the non-dominated shuffled frog leaping algorithm(NSFLA)is proposed to maximize damage to enemy targets and minimize the self-threat in air combat constraints.In NSFLA,the shuffled frog leaping algorithm(SFLA)is introduced to NSGA-II to replace the inside evolutionary scheme of the genetic algorithm(GA),displaying low optimization speed and heterogeneous space search defects.Two improvements have also been raised to promote the internal optimization performance of SFLA.Firstly,the local evolution scheme,a novel crossover mechanism,ensures that each individual participates in updating instead of only the worst ones,which can expand the diversity of the population.Secondly,a discrete adaptive mutation algorithm based on the function change rate is applied to balance the global and local search.Finally,the scheme is verified in various air combat scenarios.The results show that the proposed NSFLA has apparent advantages in solution quality and efficiency,especially in many aircraft and the dynamic air combat environment.

Economic Analysis of Demand Response Incorporated Optimal Power Flow

Demand Response(DR)is one of the most cost-effective and unfailing techniques used by utilities for consumer load shifting.This research paper presents different DR programs in deregulated environments.The description and the classification of DR along with their potential benefits and associated cost components are presented.In addition,most DR measurement indices and their evaluation are also highlighted.Initially,the economic load model incorporated thermal,wind,and energy storage by considering the elasticity market price from its calculated locational marginal pricing(LMP).The various DR programs like direct load control,critical peak pricing,real-time pricing,time of use,and capacity market programs are considered during this study.The effect of demand response in electricity prices is highlighted using a simulated study on IEEE 30 bus system.Simulation is done by the Shuffled Frog Leap Algorithm(SFLA).Comprehensive performance comparison on voltage deviations,losses,and cost with and without considering DR is also presented in this paper.