Models formalize our understanding of a system and generate hypotheses that can be tested experimentally. In this study, we use a previously developed model of p-type electroreceptor afferents to support electrophysiological observations regarding the encoding of chirps in the electrosensory periphery of the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. These animals employ their self-generated quasi-sinusoidal electric fields to navigate, find prey, and communicate. Electrocommunication happe