Male túngara frogs, native to Central and South America, gather at night in shallow ponds and call to attract females. They space themselves out carefully, each male defending a small calling site. Competition for females is serious business, and males will fight if one horns in on another’s chosen calling site.

A new study shows how the male túngara frog’s call inadvertently creates a multisensory message that can be exploited by both rivals and predators.

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But these courtship signals meant for females aren’t just overheard by rival male frogs. They also provide frog-eating bats (Trachops cirrhosus) with a way to pinpoint the location of their next meal. The frog-eating bat specializes in túngara frogs, using a combination of echolocation and eavesdropping to detect them. A frog will stop calling if it sees a bat flying overhead, but ripples continue to move through the water for several seconds after the call ceases, leaving a “footprint” of the frog’s presence.