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Animal behaviour

Aquatic sex pheromone from a male tree frog

Abstract

Many creatures use chemical signals (pheromones) as sources of information about the world around them1,2,3. For example, a sex pheromone produced by one sex (usually the female) of a particular species induces an immediate behavioural response in the opposite sex of the same species2,3. However, very little is known about amphibian pheromones4. We have now discovered and characterized an aquatic, female-attracting pheromone from the parotoid and rostral glands of a male frog, the magnificent tree frog, Litoria splendida. To our knowledge, this pheromone, which we have named splendipherin, is the first pheromone from an anuran (frog or toad) to be identified.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Partial high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) traces of the glandular secretions of Litoria splendida.

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Wabnitz, P., Bowie, J., Tyler, M. et al. Aquatic sex pheromone from a male tree frog. Nature 401, 444–445 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/46724

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