Tokay Geckos Extend Mating Calls

Male tokay geckos, native to parts of Asia, have been found to extend their mating calls by taking a brief breath between the two parts of the call and adding pulses to the second part. This discovery was made by researchers at the University of Southern Denmark, who collected and analyzed 16 video clips of seven captive male tokay geckos spontaneously making sounds.

The calls of male tokay geckos typically begin with quieter rattles, followed by louder two-part sounds that can sound like 'ge-ko' or 'to-kay'. In noisy environments, the geckos can produce more of the louder 'GE-KO' sounds and make them last longer. The researchers' findings, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, revealed that the geckos use two mechanisms to increase bi-note call duration: an inspiratory 'mini-breath' and adding terminal pulses.

The study found that calls were produced exclusively during expiration at a constant rate, supporting the hypothesis that respiratory constraints limit call duration. This means that the geckos have adapted to their environment by developing ways to extend their calls despite the limitations of their respiratory system.

## Why it matters The ability of male tokay geckos to extend their mating calls in noisy environments is crucial for their survival and reproduction. By making their calls louder and longer, they can attract potential mates and defend their territory more effectively. This discovery highlights the importance of understanding the physiological processes that allow animals to adapt to their environments and communicate with each other.

The findings of this study have implications for our understanding of vocal plasticity in animals and how they respond to changes in their environment. The use of deep learning-based pose estimation to quantify respiratory dynamics during spontaneous advertisement calling is a novel approach that can be applied to other studies of animal communication.