Glucocorticoid-Mediated Changes in Male Green Treefrog Vocalizations Alter Attractiveness to Females.

Adrenal glucocorticoids (GCs) are increasingly recognized as important modulators of male courtship signals, suggesting that circulating levels of these steroids can play a central role in sexual selection. However, few studies have examined whether GC-mediated effects on male sexual signals actually impact mate choice by females. Here, we examine how corticosterone (CORT)-mediated changes in the vocalizations of male green treefrogs, Dryophytes cinereus, influence attractiveness to females.

Assessing the links among environmental contaminants, endocrinology, and parasites to understand amphibian declines in montane regions of Costa Rica.

Amphibians inhabiting montane riparian zones in the Neotropics are particularly vulnerable to decline, but the reasons are poorly understood. Because environmental contaminants, endocrine disruption, and pathogens often figure prominently in amphibian declines it is imperative that we understand how these factors are potentially interrelated to affect montane populations. One possibility is that increased precipitation associated with global warming promotes the deposition of contaminants in montane regions.

Determinants and repeatability of the specific dynamic response of the corn snake, Pantherophis guttatus.

Ingesting, digesting, absorbing, and assimilating a meal are all energy consuming processes that accumulate to form the specific dynamic action (SDA) of the meal. Sensitive to digestive demand, SDA is theoretically fixed to a given meal size and type. In this study, we altered relative meal size to explore the effects of digestive demand on the postprandial metabolic profile and SDA of the corn snake, Pantherophis guttatus.