# Do Frogs Fall in Love ?



## froglet (May 18, 2005)

*I know this is a weird subject but after months of studying my frogs behaviors i have seen many things that make me to believe that frogs can make a connection with each other. My 36 Gallon holds 5 Dendrobates Imitator. 

1 Zero ( male )
2 Tiny ( male )
3 Wishbone ( female )
4 Hercules ( male ) 
5 Mama ( female )

Zero is my alpha male and he runs the place. He is the only male that calls and ever since he became alpha no other male has dared to open his mouth. He runs around the tank prancing like the king of the jungle and i have seen him do some things that make me think that frogs do form bonds with each other. 
Every time Zero sees Wishbone ( my favorite female ), he immediatly goes nuts and starts calling. Mama can run right past him and even give him a wink and he could care less, but when Wishbone is near, or he see her running by he goes bananas. I have noticed this since they were both 3 months old and nothing has changed. It is all about Wishbone and noone else. Maybe hes in love, but it seems weird that he just formed a bond with her.... P.S she pays absolutely no mind to him. 
Another thing i have noticed about Zero and this is from months of having him around is that he only wrestles Tiny. He does not bother Hercules at all but when he sees Tiny he immediatly goes into an aggression position and tries to wrestle him, while Hercules just sits there chilling. Its amazing but for some reason this is making me to believe that frogs can make socilizations in their colonies and pick and choose who they love, who they hate and who they just dont care about. 
This behavior is not something that i just have noticed one day, this has been going on since i got them and nothing has changed. Always the same characteristics towards each other. Im still waiting for the day that Tiny fights back or Wishbone decides to stop teasing Zero and lets him get some action 8) . This is just my expirience with my guys and i am just wondering if other peoples frogs have favorites. 


Damian 
*


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

The ultimate in anthropomorphism.

Short answer, no your frogs are not in love and are not capable of hating either.

Long answer, Darwin's theory of natural selection at work.


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## froglet (May 18, 2005)

*Ok well its not love per say or hate per say, but for one Male to only bother one male and only chase one female. Well ! there has to be something there *


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

Exactly, read up on Darwin's theory of natural selection. That's why I said it was the "long" answer.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2005)

haha, wishbone is playing hard to get, and zero likes the challenge 

yeah, zero wants to stay on top, tiny is prolly more threatening than the other male when it comes to being alpha. wishbone just isn't impressed. zero will have to try harder =P


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## booboo (Jan 22, 2005)

Well they sound like a pair if you want the other frogs to get more "action going on" you could make a 10 vert and have lots of offspring.I like the way you put all this! except rmelancon is right about darwins theory i have read the book and it makes perfect sense.


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## ColombianFrogger (Jul 9, 2004)

some species of tue quinquevitattus group do makes bonds (I don´t remember if is vanzolinii?) but I don´t really know how this works. In species where both sexes takes care of the tadpoles (non obligatory egg feeders), you can see this behavior. Of course, they are not in love, but if the dominant male see in another male as a potential challenger, it will act more agressive with him.

obligatory egg feeders shows very complex relationships. At least with histrionicus, they lives in wild in dense colonies with stablished relationships, with dominant males, but they can rotate the dominant males along time. In pumilios, some people thinks that UV radiations may have an active role in mate selection...

as you can see, frogs doesn´t behave as human, they are just more complex and fun to watch sometimes


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## bobzarry (Mar 2, 2005)

If I met a girl who goes by the name 'Wishbone" I would probably pay attention too. :lol: 

Bob


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## Ben_C (Jun 25, 2004)

Colombianfrogger,
It is, indeed, D. vanzolinii that form pair bonds. I can't find the report in my stack of papers here, but I do remember that it was vanzolinii.
~B


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## *GREASER* (Apr 11, 2004)

HAHA BOB ILL SECOND THAT!


But what is driving these frogs to behave the way they do has nothing to do with them conciously thinking about it. It is strictlty dog eat dog and making sure you pair up with the best mate possible to pass along your genes and control the best habitat to feed and breed.

And im sure in D. vanzoliniis case somewhere in the natural history of that frog it could be discribed that the reason they pair up like that has to do with them having some sort of advantage during breeding. Not becuase they find another frog they like to look at and has a good personality. 

Think about it. If you are out with your guy friends and you both are going after the same girl instead of [email protected]#K BLOCKING your buddy all night you might give up the chase and let him have a try at courting the girl. Your frogs wont do that. Your imitators will fight all night and day till the situation is settled and a better man is chosen.


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

I don't see anything wrong with anthropomorphizing frog behavior for your own pleasure and connection to them unless you are doing scientific research and putting this stuff in a paper. It makes it more fun to watch the action if we can relate it to our ourselves, whether or not it truly relates to complex human emotions (like love) or is just an expression of Darwinian type theory of behavior. Imitators are far more interesting in groups than in pairs in this regard. In my observations, it's always been the females who are the most competitive and entertaining, however.  Right away, we have some skewing of our observations, perhaps related to the different sex and ages of the observers.


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## froglet (May 18, 2005)

*This is defenetly not a scientific point of view. I in fact i watch my frogs for the pleasure of seeying what silly things they will do next. But at this point their little details become habits. Its always the same with them, they fight with the same partners, try to mate with the same, and act funny towards the same. I just think its very curious that the behavior between frog A and frog B hasnt changed since they were 3 months of age. Zero still chases Tiny and this is probably due to the fact that Tiny gets his name from being the smallest Male in the tank. Wishbone is stilp female # 1, and in my eyes she has the nicest spot markings, so this might also have something to do with it. Truthfully Zero probably chases wishbone because she is the largest female and has the biggest apettite, and her genes looks preaty strong  ....but it never the less is fun to watch and observe them and their habits..........*


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## frog 777777 (Oct 27, 2020)

froglet said:


> *Ok well its not love per say or hate per say, but for one Male to only bother one male and only chase one female. Well ! there has to be something there *


i agree


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## cwebster (Mar 5, 2016)

I dont know if frogs fall in love but some definitely are social and
have friends. Pacifics tend to have preferred companions they hang out with.


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