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Female frogs sometimes play dead to avoid mating with males
New Scientist ^ | 11 October 2023 | By Chen Ly

Posted on 02/27/2024 1:18:49 PM PST by Red Badger

Frog mating can be a competitive and sometimes deadly affair as many males compete for females – but females have some tricks to avoid unwanted attention

Male frogs commonly coerce female frogs into mating, but some females have come up with ways to avoid harassment – including playing dead.

Many frog species, including the European common frog (Rana temporaria), only have a short window of a few weeks each year to mate. This means that lots of males simultaneously compete for the attention of females, sometimes leading to deadly clashes as individuals are submerged under a competing group of males.

“It could be that there are several males clinging to one female, which often leads to the death of the female,” says Carolin Dittrich at the Natural History Museum in Berlin, Germany.

Now, Dittrich and her colleagues have found that female common frogs employ a few different tactics to evade males.

The team collected common frogs during the breeding season – 96 females and 48 males – and placed one male and two differently sized females in a box filled with 5 centimetres of water. The frogs were then allowed to move freely for 1 hour while the team recorded their behaviour.

Of the 54 female frogs that were embraced by a male as part of the mating process, 83 per cent rotated away, making it the most common escape tactic.

(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...


TOPICS: Food; Gardening; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: dating; frogheadaches; frogs; indeed; manosphere; redpill
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To: FamiliarFace

“fish in the sea” is what my Mom called them too ...

LOL


61 posted on 02/27/2024 2:30:34 PM PST by Tennessee Nana
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To: Tennessee Nana

When frogs are sad, they feel very unhoppy.


62 posted on 02/27/2024 2:37:12 PM PST by Osage Orange (I miss Rush)
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To: Red Badger

63 posted on 02/27/2024 2:37:23 PM PST by RasterMaster ("Towering genius disdains a beaten path." - Abraham Lincoln)
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To: RasterMaster

LOL


64 posted on 02/27/2024 2:38:56 PM PST by Tennessee Nana
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To: Red Badger

Most of the time I play dead or they play dead..espically since being so old...lol


65 posted on 02/27/2024 2:55:37 PM PST by montanajoe ( )
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To: Red Badger

Sometimes I play horny just so my wife will shut up and pretend to sleep.


66 posted on 02/27/2024 3:31:39 PM PST by BullwinkleMoose
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To: Red Badger

Please ask the Mods to edit your Headline. (You accidentally added “frogs” to it.)


67 posted on 02/27/2024 3:32:26 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (Method, motive, and opportunity: No morals, shear madness and hatred by those who cheat.)
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To: rlmorel; Lazamataz

What would Laz do?


68 posted on 02/27/2024 3:33:35 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE (Method, motive, and opportunity: No morals, shear madness and hatred by those who cheat.)
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To: Bulwyf

That didn’t take long.


69 posted on 02/27/2024 3:52:33 PM PST by WASCWatch ( WASC)
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To: Robert A Cook PE; rlmorel
What would Laz do?

I'd ribbit.

70 posted on 02/27/2024 3:59:38 PM PST by Lazamataz (Laz 2005: "First, we beat the Soviet Union. Then we became them.")
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To: Bulwyf

Uhhhhh, *phrasing*.


71 posted on 02/27/2024 3:59:54 PM PST by grey_whiskers ( The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: Red Badger

My ex did the same thing.

L


72 posted on 02/27/2024 4:00:11 PM PST by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: WASCWatch

Surprised?


73 posted on 02/27/2024 4:31:16 PM PST by FamiliarFace (I got my own way of livin' But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from. TPetty)
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To: Red Badger

😆😆😆😆😆😆😆


74 posted on 02/27/2024 4:32:24 PM PST by Patriot777 ("When you see these things begin to happen, look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.")
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To: oldvirginian
"My question was what was he thinking about the OTHER fourteen minutes?"

Fishing?

75 posted on 02/27/2024 4:47:28 PM PST by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
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To: Red Badger

Sounds like a lot of the women’s liberation wives of guys who worked for me in the past.


76 posted on 02/27/2024 4:52:33 PM PST by MIchaelTArchangel
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To: Red Badger
May be a doodle of text that says 'Then she says,
77 posted on 02/27/2024 4:54:14 PM PST by DOC44 ( )
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To: Red Badger

That explains every date I’ve ever had. Me, worrying about what the coroner is going to say.


78 posted on 02/27/2024 5:00:38 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: oldvirginian
"...A study once determined that the average teenage male thought about sex once every fifteen minutes..."

Slacker! I was damn happy not to be a teenager anymore...for just that reason! Talk about having your life ruled by something other than...life!

79 posted on 02/27/2024 5:12:13 PM PST by rlmorel ("The stigma for being wrong is gone, as long as you're wrong for the right side." (Clarice Feldman))
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To: Red Badger

Here for the comments..


80 posted on 02/27/2024 5:14:29 PM PST by gathersnomoss (Clown World)
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