Comments on RSOS-230742: Drop dead! Female mate avoidance in an explosively
breeding frog

The study describes the avoidance behavior of the European common frog, an explosive breeding species. Females avoid being amplexed by either unwanted or several males by rotating around their axis or by death feigning. This is a great study with descriptions of very interesting behaviors. This is also the first time I heard about a behavioral strategy or adaptation in explosive breeders, because usually one just finds a number of dead females after the breeding event, sometimes with live males still clinging to them. A second interesting finding in this study is that mainly smaller females perform or successfully perform this behaviors.
The study, very clearly points out the options of female R. temporaria in dense breeding aggregations and discusses the reasons for avoidance behaviour and its successful use particularly be smaller females.
The only part that is a bit underrepresented in the discussion and which I find quite interesting too, is the fact that several behaviors are performed together (Fig 1a) or in succession and it seems that again smaller females use the full repertoire to flee from males. Maybe elaborate on the part or where you state experience if important and add a sentence or two on the different behaviours performed together.
I believe this study provides very important findings and I only have minor style changes as suggestions:
L31-32: in species with explosive breeding - in explosive breeding species.
L32: maybe rephrase the next sentences: e.g. - During these mating events several males cling to a female, which are mostly unable to get rid of unwanted males and consequently are drowned.

L53: to reduce - reducing the risk of
L56: delete the (“the females”, “the individuals”)
L59: explosive breeding species
L64: delete the (“the drowning”)
L72: “is said to occur” rephrase? e.g. was observed
L75-77: the statement about agile frogs seems sudden at this point, maybe delete this sentence
L84: Delete “To do this,”
L103: …, while the male tries counteracting the rotation with its hind feet.
L108: … 79 mm sized female.
L115: define “most often”, add percentage
L126: Displaying mate avoidance behaviour…
L137: European common frog females displayed body rotations, release calls and death feigning as mate avoidance behaviors in order to ….
L146-148 rephrase e.g: Rotating the male underneath the female and thereby under water might force males to release females to avoid drowning and on the other hand enables females to breath. Female rotations could also be a strategy testing the strength and endurance of males.
Testing males or potential mates, hence female choice, is definitely an interesting concept in this (explosive) mating strategy and surely avoidance behavior is very important to be able to choose at all, because explosive breeding females usually have hardly any possibility to choose, sometimes not even the choice of leaving the mating event. So I believe this is a very important point you are making here – a behavioral adaptation to be able to not only survive but also to choose, good point!
L184: Rephrase eg. With these considerations in mind, It would be interesting to measure stress corticosterone levels in female R. temporaria and investigate how they correspond to age and sex ratio in breeding aggregations.
L182: delete “the”
L184: add a reference
L187-194 this paragraph could be moved to L153 the argument about testing potential mates
This way the following sentence could then add to the suggestions for future investigations which you are proposing in L184-186.
L195: …should consider testing/investigating different…
L196: …, our study provides clear evidence that female frogs, even in dense mating …., are less helpless than generally assumed.