Female frogs may croak to deter males from mating with them

Male frogs usually power females to mate with them, however in a single species, a croak from the feminine appears to influence males to depart her alone. The sound could also be an “honest” sign that she isn’t fertile and mating can be a waste of the male’s sperm and vitality.

“In general, male frogs are known to jump on even inorganic objects if they are female-like,” says Makoto M. Itoh at Nagoya University in Japan. “However, this species [stops attempting] such …