Abstract
Frog sex gets colorful For some species of frogs, sex gets pretty chaotic. The amphibians gather in large groups near bodies of water—a preferred egg-laying spot—and the males go into a frenzy, trying to grab onto any female they can. The resulting sexual mayhem can lead to cases of mistaken identity. “There are a lot of reports of frogs grabbing onto inanimate objects,” says Rayna C. Bell of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Bell and two Australian colleagues now think these species have evolved a way to cut down on carnal confusion. The males of many species that mate via these amphibian orgies tend to change color during the breeding season to possibly differentiate themselves from females (J. Evol. Biol. 2017, DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13170 ). These bright colors may serve as a way for the male frogs to tell others, “Back off” or “Don’t grab onto me,” Bell
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