Signal synchronization: a communication network perspective
Animals producing signals go to great extents to decrease interference due to conspecifics signaling close by. There are some species, however, in which individuals coordinate their behavior to produce their signals almost at the same time. Why does such signal synchronization occur? What are the selective pressures imposed by intended and unintended receivers in such systems? Our work addresses these questions in the pug-nosed treefrog (Smilisca sila), a species in which males synchronize their mating calls by responding to the calls of conspecific males with incredible fast latency.