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Malhotra A, Wüster W, Owens JB, Hodges CW, Jesudasan A, Ch G, Kartik A, Christopher P, Louies J, Naik H, Santra V, Kuttalam SR, Attre S, Sasa M, Bravo-Vega C, Murray KA. Promoting co-existence between humans and venomous snakes through increasing the herpetological knowledge base. Toxicon X 2021; 12:100081. [PMID: 34522881 PMCID: PMC8426276 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxcx.2021.100081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Snakebite incidence at least partly depends on the biology of the snakes involved. However, studies of snake biology have been largely neglected in favour of anthropic factors, with the exception of taxonomy, which has been recognised for some decades to affect the design of antivenoms. Despite this, within-species venom variation and the unpredictability of the correlation with antivenom cross-reactivity has continued to be problematic. Meanwhile, other aspects of snake biology, including behaviour, spatial ecology and activity patterns, distribution, and population demography, which can contribute to snakebite mitigation and prevention, remain underfunded and understudied. Here, we review the literature relevant to these aspects of snakebite and illustrate how demographic, spatial, and behavioural studies can improve our understanding of why snakebites occur and provide evidence for prevention strategies. We identify the large gaps that remain to be filled and urge that, in the future, data and relevant metadata be shared openly via public data repositories so that studies can be properly replicated and data used in future meta-analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Malhotra
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution @ Bangor, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, 3rd floor ECW, Deiniol Road, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK
| | - Wolfgang Wüster
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution @ Bangor, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, 3rd floor ECW, Deiniol Road, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK
| | - John Benjamin Owens
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution @ Bangor, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, 3rd floor ECW, Deiniol Road, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK
- Captive & Field Herpetology Ltd, Wales, 13 Hirfron, Holyhead, Llaingoch, Anglesey, LL65 1YU, UK
| | - Cameron Wesley Hodges
- School of Biology, Institute of Science, Suranaree University of Technology, Muang Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
| | - Allwin Jesudasan
- Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Centre for Herpetology, Post bag No.4, Vadanamelli Village, East Coast Road, Mamallapuram, 603 104, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Gnaneswar Ch
- Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Centre for Herpetology, Post bag No.4, Vadanamelli Village, East Coast Road, Mamallapuram, 603 104, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Ajay Kartik
- Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Centre for Herpetology, Post bag No.4, Vadanamelli Village, East Coast Road, Mamallapuram, 603 104, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Peter Christopher
- Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Centre for Herpetology, Post bag No.4, Vadanamelli Village, East Coast Road, Mamallapuram, 603 104, Tamil Nadu, India
| | | | - Hiral Naik
- School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. P. O. Wits, 2050, Gauteng, South Africa
- Save the Snakes, R527, Blyderus, Hoedspruit, 1380, South Africa
| | - Vishal Santra
- Captive & Field Herpetology Ltd, Wales, 13 Hirfron, Holyhead, Llaingoch, Anglesey, LL65 1YU, UK
- Society for Nature Conservation, Research and Community Engagement (CONCERN), Nalikul, Hooghly, West Bengal 712407, India
| | - Sourish Rajagopalan Kuttalam
- Society for Nature Conservation, Research and Community Engagement (CONCERN), Nalikul, Hooghly, West Bengal 712407, India
| | - Shaleen Attre
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, Marlowe Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NR, UK
| | - Mahmood Sasa
- Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
- Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Carlos Bravo-Vega
- Research Group in Mathematical and Computational Biology (BIOMAC), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of the Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Kris A. Murray
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, UK
- MRC Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Atlantic Boulevard, Fajara, Gambia
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Dong S, Tan K, Nieh JC. Visual contagion in prey defence signals can enhance honest defence. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:594-601. [PMID: 33216987 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The co-evolutionary arms race between predators and their prey has led to complex signalling, especially in groups that benefit from the social transmission of alarm signals. In particular, pursuit deterrence signals can allow individuals and groups to indicate, at relatively low cost, that a predator's further approach is futile. Pursuit deterrence signals are usually more effective if amplified, for example, by becoming contagious and rapidly spreading among prey without requiring individual prey to confirm predator presence. However, this can also lead to runaway false signalling. We provide the first evidence of a contagious pursuit deterrence signal in social insects. The Asian honey bee Apis cerana, performs an I See You (ISY) signal that deters attacking hornets. We show that these signals enhance defensive signalling by also attracting guard bees and that the visual movements of appropriate stimuli alone (hornets and ISY signalling bees, but not harmless butterflies) provide sufficient stimuli. Olfaction and other potential cues are not necessary. The ISY signal is visually contagious and is buffered from runaway false signals because it is specifically triggered and by likely selection for honesty within the highly cooperative bee colony. These results expand our understanding of contagious signals and how they can be honestly maintained in highly cooperative collectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shihao Dong
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Center of Plant Ecology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, China
| | - Ken Tan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Center of Plant Ecology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, China
| | - James C Nieh
- Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
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Burnett AD, Koprowski JL. Ultimate causes of antipredator vocalizations in a nonhibernating squirrel. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.08.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Adams DB, Kitchen DM. Experimental evidence that titi and saki monkey alarm calls deter an ambush predator. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Do free-ranging rattlesnakes use thermal cues to evaluate prey? J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2017; 204:295-303. [PMID: 29218413 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-017-1239-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2017] [Revised: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Rattlesnakes use infrared radiation to detect prey animals such as small mammals and lizards. Because ectotherm locomotor performance depends on temperature, rattlesnakes could use prey temperature to evaluate the potential of lizards to evade attacks. Here, we tested whether hunting rattlesnakes use infrared information to (1) detect and (2) evaluate prey before attack. We expected thermal contrast between prey and background to be the best predictor of predatory behaviour under the prey detection hypothesis, and absolute prey temperature under the prey evaluation hypothesis. We presented lizard carcasses of varying temperatures to free-ranging sidewinder rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes) and scored behavioural responses as a function of thermal contrast, absolute lizard temperature, and light level. Thermal contrast and light level were the most salient predictors of snake behaviour. Snakes were more likely to respond to lizards and/or respond at greater distances at night and when thermal contrast was high, supporting the known prey detection function of infrared sensing. Absolute lizard temperature was not an important predictor of snake behaviour; thus, we found no evidence for temperature-based prey evaluation. Infrared sensing is still poorly understood in ecologically relevant contexts; future research will test whether rattlesnakes learn to evaluate prey based on temperature with experience.
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McRae TR, Green SM. Vocalizations associated with predator-type do not elicit predator-specific escape responses in grey squirrels. BEHAVIOUR 2017. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Eastern gray squirrels produce moans for aerial predators and quaas for terrestrial threats. One commonly-supported hypothesis for such predator-associated signals is that they elicit predator-specific escape responses in conspecifics. With simulated aerial predators, squirrels ran to the far side of tree trunks. In response to simulated terrestrial predators, squirrels frequently ran to where they could see the predator but could quickly flee to the far side of the tree trunk. Playbacks of quaas and moans elicited flight behaviour, but without association between escape location and alarm call type. Locations elicited by alarm calls differed from those elicited by simulated predators, with squirrels pausing on the side facing the call’s source. While grey squirrel alarms and escape strategies differ by predator type, the vocalizations do not function to elicit divergent escape strategies in conspecifics. This result stands in contrast to observed functions in other species with calls differing by predator type.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thaddeus R. McRae
- aDepartment of Biology, University of Miami, 215 Cox Science Center, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
- bDepartment of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Lee University, P.O. Box 3450, Cleveland, TN, 37320-3450, USA
| | - Steven M. Green
- aDepartment of Biology, University of Miami, 215 Cox Science Center, 1301 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
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Clark RW, Dorr SW, Whitford MD, Freymiller GA, Hein SR. Comparison of anti-snake displays in the sympatric desert rodentsXerospermophilus tereticaudus(round-tailed ground squirrels) andDipodomys deserti(desert kangaroo rats). J Mammal 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyw137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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Isbell LA, Bidner LR. Vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) alarm calls to leopards (Panthera pardus) function as a predator deterrent. BEHAVIOUR 2016. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Behavioural predator–prey interactions are difficult to study, especially when predators avoid humans. To gain greater understanding of their dynamism, we conducted a 14-month field study in which we minimized human presence by employing acoustic recorders and camera traps, along with GPS collars deployed on vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) and leopards (Panthera pardus) in Laikipia, Kenya. Recordings at the vervets’ sleeping site revealed that they gave ‘leopard’ alarm calls most frequently near dusk and dawn, whereas photographs showed that leopards approached vervets more closely at night, when the monkeys alarm-called less often. GPS data showed that after vervets alarm-called, leopards within 200 m quickly moved away, changing direction, but when vervets did not alarm-call, leopards continued moving forward. These results reveal that vervets’ leopard alarm calls function as a predator deterrent in addition to a conspecific warning call.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lynne A. Isbell
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Mpala Research Centre, Nanyuki, Kenya
| | - Laura R. Bidner
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
- Mpala Research Centre, Nanyuki, Kenya
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Jayne K, Lea SE, Leaver LA. Behavioural responses of Eastern grey squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, to cues of risk while foraging. Behav Processes 2015; 116:53-61. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2015.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2014] [Revised: 05/01/2015] [Accepted: 05/05/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Pardo MA, Pardo SA, Shields WM. Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) Communicate with the Positions of their Tails in an Agonistic Context. AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1674/0003-0031-172.2.359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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13
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The ‘I see you’ prey–predator signal of Apis cerana is innate. Naturwissenschaften 2013; 100:245-8. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-013-1019-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2012] [Revised: 01/16/2013] [Accepted: 01/18/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Barbour MA, Clark RW. Ground squirrel tail-flag displays alter both predatory strike and ambush site selection behaviours of rattlesnakes. Proc Biol Sci 2012; 279:3827-33. [PMID: 22787023 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.1112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Many species approach, inspect and signal towards their predators. These behaviours are often interpreted as predator-deterrent signals--honest signals that indicate to a predator that continued hunting is likely to be futile. However, many of these putative predator-deterrent signals are given when no predator is present, and it remains unclear if and why such signals deter predators. We examined the effects of one such signal, the tail-flag display of California ground squirrels, which is frequently given both during and outside direct encounters with northern Pacific rattlesnakes. We video-recorded and quantified the ambush foraging responses of rattlesnakes to tail-flagging displays from ground squirrels. We found that tail-flagging deterred snakes from striking squirrels, most likely by advertising squirrel vigilance (i.e. readiness to dodge a snake strike). We also found that tail-flagging by adult squirrels increased the likelihood that snakes would leave their ambush site, apparently by elevating the vigilance of nearby squirrels which reduces the profitability of the ambush site. Our results provide some of the first empirical evidence of the mechanisms by which a prey display, although frequently given in the absence of a predator, may still deter predators during encounters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Barbour
- Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
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Barbour MA, Clark RW. Diel Cycles in Chemosensory Behaviors of Free-Ranging Rattlesnakes Lying in Wait for Prey. Ethology 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2012.02035.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Eason P. Alarm signaling in a facultatively social mammal, the southern Amazon red squirrel Sciurus spadiceus. MAMMALIA 2010. [DOI: 10.1515/mamm.2010.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
No abstract available
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Affiliation(s)
- Perri Eason
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA
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Colombelli-Négrel D, Robertson J, Kleindorfer S. Nestling presence affects the anti-predator response of adult superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus). Acta Ethol 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s10211-010-0072-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Sex differences in antipredator tail-waving displays of the diurnal yellow-headed gecko Gonatodes albogularis from tropical forests of Colombia. J ETHOL 2009. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-009-0186-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Lord K, Feinstein M, Coppinger R. Barking and mobbing. Behav Processes 2009; 81:358-68. [PMID: 19520235 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2009.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2008] [Revised: 04/06/2009] [Accepted: 04/08/2009] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Barking is most often associated with the domestic dog Canis familiaris, but it is a common mammalian and avian vocalization. Like any vocalization, the acoustic character of the bark is likely to be a product of adaptation as well as an expression of the signaler's internal motivational state. While most authors recognize that the bark is a distinct signal type, no consistent description of its acoustic definition or function is apparent. The bark exhibits considerable variability in its acoustic form and occurs in a wide range of behavioral contexts, particularly in dogs. This has led some authors to suggest that dog barking might be a form of referential signaling, or an adaptation for heightened capability to communicate with humans. In this paper we propose a general 'canonical' acoustic description of the bark. Surveying relevant literature on dogs, wild canids, other mammals and birds, we explore an alternative functional hypothesis, first suggested by [Morton, E.S., 1977. On the occurrence and significance of motivation-structural rules in some bird and mammal sounds. Am. Nat. 111, 855-869] and consistent with his motivational-structural rules theory: that barking in many animals, including the domestic dog, is associated with mobbing behavior and the motivational states that accompany mobbing.
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Stang AT, McRae SB. Why some rails have white tails: the evolution of white undertail plumage and anti-predator signaling. Evol Ecol 2008. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-008-9283-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Wheeler BC. Selfish or altruistic? An analysis of alarm call function in wild capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella nigritus. Anim Behav 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Cochran PA. A Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) in Minnesota, and Historical Reports of Other Pit Vipers Unexpected in the Upper Midwest. Northeast Nat (Steuben) 2008. [DOI: 10.1656/1092-6194-15.3.461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Litvin Y, Blanchard DC, Blanchard RJ. Rat 22kHz ultrasonic vocalizations as alarm cries. Behav Brain Res 2007; 182:166-72. [PMID: 17173984 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2006.11.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 173] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2006] [Revised: 11/20/2006] [Accepted: 11/22/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Rats incorporate circa 22kHz ultrasonic alarm cries into their defense pattern in response to a predator threat. These calls are dependent on conspecific presence, show gender differences, and tend to be emitted from a place of relative safety. Rats emit sonic defensive threat vocalizations when approached by a potential threat. These are emitted regardless of conspecific presence, and increase as a function of threat proximity, eventually culminating in defensive attack at close distances. Ample data from field studies suggest a similar division of vocalizations into alarm or warning cries, and defensive threat vocalizations, although both are often subsumed under the rubric of "alarm cries". A clear distinction between these types of calls is necessary for proper analysis of the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for the development and maintenance of each of them. Furthermore, the integration of data from field studies and laboratory experiments may prove useful in evaluation of the relationship between each type of cry and emotional (fear or anxiety-like) states in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoav Litvin
- University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Psychology, 2430 Campus Rd., Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
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Rundus AS, Owings DH, Joshi SS, Chinn E, Giannini N. Ground squirrels use an infrared signal to deter rattlesnake predation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2007; 104:14372-6. [PMID: 17704254 PMCID: PMC1950100 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0702599104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of communicative signals involves a major hurdle; signals need to effectively stimulate the sensory systems of their targets. Therefore, sensory specializations of target animals are important sources of selection on signal structure. Here we report the discovery of an animal signal that uses a previously unknown communicative modality, infrared radiation or "radiant heat," which capitalizes on the infrared sensory capabilities of the signal's target. California ground squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi) add an infrared component to their snake-directed tail-flagging signals when confronting infrared-sensitive rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus), but tail flag without augmenting infrared emission when confronting infrared-insensitive gopher snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus). Experimental playbacks with a biorobotic squirrel model reveal this signal's communicative function. When the infrared component was added to the tail flagging display of the robotic models, rattlesnakes exhibited a greater shift from predatory to defensive behavior than during control trials in which tail flagging included no infrared component. These findings provide exceptionally strong support for the hypothesis that the sensory systems of signal targets should, in general, channel the evolution of signal structure. Furthermore, the discovery of previously undescribed signaling modalities such as infrared radiation should encourage us to overcome our own human-centered sensory biases and more fully examine the form and diversity of signals in the repertoires of many animal species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron S Rundus
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group and Department of Psychology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
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Fichtel C. Avoiding predators at night: antipredator strategies in red-tailed sportive lemurs (Lepilemur ruficaudatus). Am J Primatol 2007; 69:611-24. [PMID: 17245766 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Although about one-third of all primate species are nocturnal, their antipredator behavior has rarely been studied directly. Crypsis and a solitary lifestyle have traditionally been considered to be the main adaptive antipredator strategies of nocturnal primates. However, a number of recent studies have revealed that nocturnal primates are not as cryptic and solitary as previously suggested. Thus, the antipredator strategies available for diurnal primates that rely on early detection and warning of approaching predators may also be available to nocturnal species. In order to shed additional light on the antipredator strategies of nocturnal primates, I studied pair-living red-tailed sportive lemurs (Lepilemur ruficaudatus) in Western Madagascar. In an experimental field study I exposed adult sportive lemurs that lived in pairs and had offspring to playbacks of vocalizations of their main aerial and terrestrial predators, as well as to their own mobbing calls (barks) given in response to disturbances at their tree holes. I documented the subjects' immediate behavioral responses, including alarm calls, during the first minute following a playback. The sportive lemurs did not give alarm calls in response to predator call playbacks or to playbacks with barks. Other behavioral responses, such as gaze and escape directions, corresponded to the hunting strategies of the two classes of predators, suggesting that the corresponding vocalizations were correctly categorized. In response to barks, they scanned the ground and fled. Because barks do not indicate any specific threats, they are presumably general alarm calls. Thus, sportive lemurs do not rely on early warning of acoustically simulated predators; rather, they show adaptive escape strategies and use general alarm calls that are primarily directed toward the predator but may also serve to warn kin and pair-partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia Fichtel
- Department of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.
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Murphy TG. Dishonest ‘preemptive’ pursuit-deterrent signal? Why the turquoise-browed motmot wags its tail before feeding nestlings. Anim Behav 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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28
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Murphy TG. Predator-elicited visual signal: why the turquoise-browed motmot wag-displays its racketed tail. Behav Ecol 2006. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arj064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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