Not Tonight Honey, I’m Dead
Female Frogs Fake Death to Avoid Sex
I’m travelling this week and don’t have a lot of time for sex (on Wednesday or any other day), but rather than skip this week altogether, I thought I’d share a silly story about how far female frogs will go to avoid sex (on Wednesday or any other day).
Researchers from Berlin’s Natural History Museum studied how frogs get frisky by placing a male frog in a box with one large female and one small female. (I like to imagine the box as a 70’s shag palace with round purple velvet couches, a leather-clad bar, and some lava lamps, but I’m pretty sure it was just a box.) Male frogs would clutch females when they wanted to mate. While some females would go along with it, others would say no in not-so-subtle ways. The researchers observed that some female frogs would rotate their body away from their suitor; some would emit squeaks and grunts (in this case very different than moans and gasps); and some simply played dead. Displaying a behavior known as tonic immobility, the frogs stiffened their outstretched arm and legs to appear dead.
Of the 54 observed instances of female frogs being clutched by the males, 83% percent of females tried rotating their body when gripped, 48% vocalized “release calls,” and 33% percent played dead. While other animals also employ tonic immobility, it’s usually in response to the threat of being eaten, not eaten out. (Sorry, I think I took the funky frog f**k fest too far there.)
The researchers explain that female frogs have always been at a disadvantage in the mating process because they are an explosive breeding species. This means there are more male frogs than female partners, and the females are all receptive at the same time. The onus is on the males not necessarily to woo females with their fancy feather or carefully choreographed mating dances, but to get there first. Sometimes the second or third to arrive will pile on anyhow, and being “amplecated” by more than one male can kill the female.
Amplecated feels like a word that might show up in the bot-written 8th grade vocabulary book. It means to embrace, but in science it’s considered a form of “pseudo-copulation” common to amphibians in which a male grasps the female with his front legs.
I guess if you’re at risk of being hugged to death by too many mates, playing dead is an understandable strategy. For us humans, however, I would always err on the side of honest communication.
“Not this week honey, I’m travelling.”
Very interesting sex strategy. I think I read somewhere once that only humans and dolphins have sex purely for pleasure.
Ha! I learned a new word, and a worthy one: "amplecate." I can't wait to use it when I hear someone say, "He's a hugger."
"I think he's more of an amplecater," I intend to say.
Also I learned about frogs. This is a super useful post! Thanks.