Too many males to choose from can overwhelm female frogs – and change who gets to mate

Many animal species – frogs and humans alike – struggle to make choices in a complex, overwhelming world.

By: Claire Therese Hemingway, University of Tennessee; Smithsonian Institution, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 1, 2026

Words: 899

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 3 days ago

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By Claire Therese Hemingway, University of Tennessee; Smithsonian Institution

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by menu options at a restaurant, cereal varieties at the grocery store or potential partners while scrolling through dating apps, you’ve experienced choice overload.

People aren’t the only ones to have trouble making decisions when confronted with many options simultaneously. In our new study published in the journal iScience, my colleagues and I found similar effects of choice overload …

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