When looking for a mate, male frogs don't go for the best—they settle for the next-best

Larger is not better: no mate preference by European common frog (Rana temporaria) males. Carolin Dittrich, Melanie Tietje, Mark-Oliver Rödel. Behavior, May 17 2022. https://brill.com/view/journals/beh/aop/article-10.1163-1568539X-bja10169/article-10.1163-1568539X-bja10169.xml

Abstract: In explosive breeding frogs, high intrasexual competition between males leads to a sexual coercion ruled mating system, where males presumably evolved preferences for specific female traits. We tested these preferences in the European Common Frog by excluding intrasexual competition. We hypothesized that all males show preferences towards larger female body size, due to higher fecundity. Our results did not show any preference considering female body size, neither in the attempt to amplex a female nor during the formation of pairs. Additionally, we witnessed a high failure rate of male mating attempts, which hints at high mating costs and offers an explanation for the lack of preferences in males. Nonetheless, we observed a non-random mating pattern in successfully formed pairs, where in the absence of size dimorphism females were on average larger than males. This indicates a different mechanism for selection which is independent from male mating preference or scramble competition.