DOI: 10.5061/dryad.220602k
title: Data from: The return to water in ancestral Xenopus was accompanied by a novel mechanism for producing and shaping vocal signals

description: Listeners locate potential mates using species-specific vocal signals. As
 tetrapods transitioned from water to land, lungs replaced gills, allowing
 expiration to drive sound production. Some frogs then returned to water.
 Here we explore how air-driven sound production changed upon re-entry to
 preserve essential acoustic information on species identity in the
 secondarily aquatic frog genus Xenopus. We filmed movements of cartilage
 and muscles during evoked sound production in isolated larynges. Results
 refute the current theory for Xenopus vocalization, cavitation, and favor
 instead sound production by mechanical excitation of laryngeal resonance
 modes following rapid separation of laryngeal arytenoid discs. Resulting
 frequency resonance modes (dyads) are intrinsic to the larynx rather than
 due to neuromuscular control. Dyads are a distinctive acoustic signature.
 While their component frequencies overlap across species, their ratio is
 shared within each Xenopus clade providing information on species identity
 that could facilitate both conspecific localization and ancient species
 divergence.Editorial note: This article has been through an editorial
 process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised
 during peer review. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that all the
 issues have been addressed (see decision letter).
description: AllSpecies_Frequency_DF1-DF2_RatioSummary of spectral data for advertisement calls from 19 Xenopus sub species. Data were collected from audio recordings made in the field in and in the laboratory. Frequency values were extracted from recordings using custom script written in MatLab. 'Dominant Frequency' or 'DF' refers to the dominant frequency peaks. 'Q Value' refers to the peak width measured 6 decibels below the peak frequency. 'Ratio (DF2/DF1)' refers to the the ratio of the higher to lower dominant frequency peaks.ElasticCartilage-DisruptionData were collected from Xenopus boumbaensis, Xenopus laevis South Africa and Xenopus victorianus ex vivo larynx preparations. Audio recordings were made in Amadeus and frequency values were extracted from recordings using custom script written in MatLab. Electrical stimulation of laryngeal muscles or nerves results in species-specific sound pulses, both in situ and ex vivo. 'Pre recording' refers to recordings of the larynx prep prior to any modification. 'Hole in hc' refers to recordings of the larynx prep after a hole had been drilled in the hyaline cartilage and then sealed with a small piece of Parafilm. 'EC disruption' refers to recording of the larynx prep after a 30g needle was used to puncture the elastic cartilage on both sides.Elemans-Excised-Laevis-LarynxThis data package contains raw data for three individuals. Each folder contains the binary Matlab files, one with the positions of the carbon beads on the arytenoid discs (“*_beadposition.mat”) and rawdata collected by our DAC (“*_rawdata.mat”) including sound, muscle stimulation and synchronization signals.