# Too many male frogs overwhelm female choice

> Female gray tree frogs struggle to pick mates when too many males call.
- Title: Too many male frogs overwhelm female choice · The Conversation
- Summary: Female gray tree frogs struggle to pick mates when too many males call. Female gray tree frogs choose less optimal mates when faced with too many male mating…
- Keywords: gray tree frog, mating calls, cognitive overload, female choice, male frogs, choice overload, science, ideas, Too, many, male, frogs
- Source: The Conversation — https://theconversation.com/too-many-males-to-choose-from-can-overwhelm-female-frogs-and-change-who-gets-to-mate-292343
- Author: Claire Therese Hemingway
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: gray tree frog, mating calls, cognitive overload, female choice, male frogs, choice overload, science, ideas
## Choice overload in frogs
Female gray tree frogs face decision overload when too many male mating calls are presented simultaneously.
## Lab experiment setup
Researchers played one attractive call and three to seven less attractive calls to 60 female frogs in a lab.
## Female decision decline
As distractor calls increased, females took longer to choose, made more errors, and defered decisions within 10 minutes.
## Cognitive limits over masking
The decline wasn’t due to energetic masking but female cognitive limits preventing optimal mate selection.
## Mating consequences
Females may mate with less attractive males, passing on less desirable traits to offspring.
## Male strategy shift
Less attractive males might benefit from joining larger choruses where females struggle to discriminate.
## Key takeaway

Female gray tree frogs choose less optimal mates when faced with too many male mating calls due to cognitive overload.