Dip listening or modulation masking? Call recognition by green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea) in temporally fluctuating noise.

ABSTRACT: Despite the importance of perceptually separating signals from background noise, we still know little about how nonhuman animals solve this problem. Dip listening, an ability to catch meaningful 'acoustic glimpses' of a target signal when fluctuating background noise levels momentarily drop, constitutes one possible solution. Amplitude-modulated noises, however, can sometimes impair signal recognition through a process known as modulation masking. We asked whether fluctuating noise simulating a breeding chorus affects the ability of female green treefrogs (Hyla cinerea) to recognize male advertisement calls. Our analysis of recordings of the sounds of green treefrog choruses reveal that their levels fluctuate primarily at rates below 10 Hz. In laboratory phonotaxis tests, we found no evide

SUBMITTER: Velez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3496079 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature