Compare and contrast the mating signals of two very different species: anurans (frogs and toads) and passerines (songbirds). Organize your paper according to Tinbergen's four perspectives on animal behavior: adaptation, mechanism, ontogeny, and phylogeny. In other words, answer the following questions. What evolutionary benefits do mating signals bring each species? How are the vocalizations produced (anatomy and physiology) and what are they like (acoustic structure, including elements and complexity)? When in the lifecycle can individuals produce the signals, and what steps need to occur before signal production is possible? How did the signals likely evolve over time (both in terms of vocalizer and listener, but also in terms of socio-ecological environment)?
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