The Use of Cognition by Amphibians Confronting Environmental Change: Examples from the Behavioral Ecology of Crawfish Frogs (Rana areolata)

Simple Summary One overlooked advantage amphibians possess in the struggle for survival is their brains share the same blueprint as human brains, which allows them to acquire knowledge and understanding through experiences—in other words, amphibians have cognitive capabilities that assist them in their effort to survive. Here, we use four examples from our work on the behavioral ecology of Crawfish Frogs (Rana areolata) to hypothesize how cognition affects amphibian reactions to environmental and social change. We offer that as one component of our fight to conserve amphibians, researchers should consider the full range of anatomical, physiological, and behavioral features amphibians themselves employ in their defense, which are features responsible for their historical evolutionary success up until the Anthropocene.