Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions were screened for in five advanced frog species (Hyla cinerea, n = 10 ears; Hyla chrysoscelis, n = 10; Hyla versicolor, n = 7; Leptodactylus albilabris, n = 2; Rana pipiens pipiens, n = 8), and two primitive frog species (Xenopus laevis, n = 9; Bombina orientalis, n = 12). Emissions were found in 90% of the advanced species' ears, whereas none of the primitive species' ears had emissions. Emission frequencies ranged from 645 Hz to 1680 Hz. The absence of emissions in the primitive species correlates with (1) the absence of a tympanic membrane, and (2) a reduced length of the caudal extension of the amphibian papilla. In eight frogs, the effect of body temperature on emissions was investigated. As a function of temperature, the frequency changed at a rate between 0.009 and 0.091 oct/degree C, and emission levels displayed a complex but consistent behavior. For 9 out of 15 spectral emission peaks encountered during the temperature experiments, the relation between the peak height and peak width was similar to that of an active oscillator.