The frog room smells just like a marsh. The space is closet-sized and shelves along the walls are stacked with clear plastic boxes, each filled with water and housing a couple of bored-looking frogs. But as soon as Dr. Darcy Kelley lifts the wire lid off one of the tubs and reaches for a frog, it explodes into action, squirming and kicking with its webbed feet. This is Xenopus: a surprisingly homely-looking aquatic frog from sub-Saharan Africa. His simple song is the subject of Columbia neuroscientist Kelley’s research on vocal communication.
