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Colombelli‐Négrel D, Kleindorfer S. Behavioural response to songs between genetically diverged allopatric populations of Darwin's small tree finch in the Galápagos. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:816-829. [PMID: 33714212 PMCID: PMC8251970 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Empirical data that identify contemporary mechanisms of divergence shed light on how species could multiply. In this study, we measured population genetic structure, song syllable diversity and response to simulated intruder song in Darwin's small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus) on Santa Cruz and Floreana Islands, Galápagos archipelago. Our aim was to test whether the magnitude of contemporary behavioural response in resident birds was consistent with patterns of genetic or cultural differences between populations. We analysed genetic structure and the occurrence of song syllable types, and experimentally measured the response of resident birds to intruder bird song from different geographical origin (i.e., island) or syllable type. We discovered a weak signal of population genetic structure between Santa Cruz and Floreana Islands. Although some song syllables occurred on both islands, others were unique to each island; Santa Cruz Island males used more unique syllables than Floreana Island males. Both Santa Cruz and Floreana resident males discriminated their response towards a simulated intruder song based on the geographical origin of the intruder song, but not on the syllable type sung by the intruder. We conclude that the populations are diverging in genetic and cultural traits and identified a signal of contemporary behavioural response that could maintain divergence upon secondary contact.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sonia Kleindorfer
- College of Science and EngineeringFlinders UniversityAdelaideSouth AustraliaAustralia
- Konrad Lorenz Research Centre for Behaviour and CognitionDepartment of Behavioural and Cognitive BiologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
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Beecher MD. Why Are No Animal Communication Systems Simple Languages? Front Psychol 2021; 12:602635. [PMID: 33815200 PMCID: PMC8018278 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.602635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals of some animal species have been taught simple versions of human language despite their natural communication systems failing to rise to the level of a simple language. How is it, then, that some animals can master a version of language, yet none of them deploy this capacity in their own communication system? I first examine the key design features that are often used to evaluate language-like properties of natural animal communication systems. I then consider one candidate animal system, bird song, because it has several of the key design features or their precursors, including social learning and cultural transmission of their vocal signals. I conclude that although bird song communication is nuanced and complex, and has the acoustic potential for productivity, it is not productive – it cannot be used to say many different things. Finally, I discuss the debate over whether animal communication should be viewed as a cooperative information transmission process, as we typically view human language, or as a competitive process where signaler and receiver vie for control. The debate points to a necessary condition for the evolution of a simple language that has generally been overlooked: the degree of to which the interests of the signaler and receiver align. While strong cognitive and signal production mechanisms are necessary pre-adaptations for a simple language, they are not sufficient. Also necessary is the existence of identical or near-identical interests of signaler and receiver and a socio-ecology that requires high-level cooperation across a range of contexts. In the case of our hominid ancestors, these contexts included hunting, gathering, child care and, perhaps, warfare. I argue that the key condition for the evolution of human language was the extreme interdependency that existed among unrelated individuals in the hunter-gatherer societies of our hominid ancestors. This extreme interdependency produced multiple prosocial adaptations for effective intragroup cooperation, which in partnership with advanced cognitive abilities, set the stage for the evolution of language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Beecher
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
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Ansell D, Magrath RD, Haff TM. Song matching in a long‐lived, sedentary bird with a low song rate: The importance of song type, song duration and intrusion. Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dean Ansell
- Division of Ecology and Evolution Research School of Biology Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- National Parks and Wildlife Service Merimbula NSW Australia
| | - Robert D. Magrath
- Division of Ecology and Evolution Research School of Biology Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Tonya M. Haff
- Division of Ecology and Evolution Research School of Biology Australian National University Canberra ACT Australia
- Australian National Wildlife CollectionCSIRO Acton ACT Australia
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Five members of a mixed-sex group of bottlenose dolphins share a stereotyped whistle contour in addition to maintaining their individually distinctive signature whistles. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0233658. [PMID: 32442214 PMCID: PMC7244121 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Most commonly, animal communication systems are driven by shared call repertoires, with some individual distinctiveness encoded as a byproduct of voice cues. We provide evidence that bottlenose dolphins produce both individually distinctive whistles, and a shared whistle type. A stereotyped whistle contour (termed the group whistle) is shared by five bottlenose dolphins that have lived, worked, and traveled together for at least 21 years. These five dolphins are members of a group of eight dolphins that work as a specialized team for the Navy Marine Mammal Program. Each dolphin is routinely recorded during periods when an individual is isolated from the others in above ground pools as part of their routine training. Each of the eight dolphins has an individually distinctive signature whistle. In addition, at least five of these dolphins share a distinct non-signature whistle type. This shared whistle contour was produced an average of 22.4% +/- 9.0% of the time during periods in which individuals were isolated. During these isolations the signature whistle was produced an average of 42.9% +/- 11.9% of the time. This is consistent with decades of signature whistle research. A group of 10 naïve observers rated the similarity of the different whistle contours. The observers rated the group whistle contour produced by all five dolphins as highly similar (P < 0.01). Their ratings further showed that the signature whistles of the five dolphins were very different (P < 0.01). These findings were further supported by discriminant function analyses. That said, the shared whistle contours still exhibited individual differences which may allow conspecifics to identify the producer even when a whistle contour is shared among multiple dolphins. This is the first in-depth analysis of a non-signature whistle type shared among multiple conspecifics.
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Van Cise AM, Mahaffy SD, Baird RW, Mooney TA, Barlow J. Song of my people: dialect differences among sympatric social groups of short-finned pilot whales in Hawai’i. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2596-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Snijders L, Naguib M. Communication in Animal Social Networks. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.asb.2017.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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The perception of self in birds. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 69:1-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.06.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Revised: 06/24/2016] [Accepted: 06/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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King SL, McGregor PK. Vocal matching: the what, the why and the how. Biol Lett 2016; 12:20160666. [PMID: 28120803 PMCID: PMC5095202 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 09/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the years, vocal matching has progressed beyond being an interesting behavioural phenomenon to one that now has relevance to a wide range of fields. In this review, we use birds and cetaceans to explain what vocal matching is, why animals vocally match and how vocal matching can be identified. We show that while the functional aspects of vocal matching are similar, the contexts in which matching is used can differ between taxa. Whereas vocal matching in songbirds facilitates mate attraction and the immediate defence of resources, in parrots and cetaceans it plays a role in the maintenance of social bonds and the promotion of behavioural synchrony. We propose criteria for defining vocal matching with the aim of stimulating more matching studies across a wider range of taxa, including those using other, non-vocal, communication modalities. Finally, we encourage future studies to explore the importance of vocal learning in the development of vocal matching, and the information it may provide to third parties in the communication network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L King
- Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Peter K McGregor
- Centre for Applied Zoology, Cornwall College Newquay, Newquay TR7 2LZ, UK
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Colombelli-Négrel D. Female splendid and variegated fairy-wrens display different strategies during territory defence. Anim Behav 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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King SL. You talkin' to me? Interactive playback is a powerful yet underused tool in animal communication research. Biol Lett 2016; 11:rsbl.2015.0403. [PMID: 26136047 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the years, playback experiments have helped further our understanding of the wonderful world of animal communication. They have provided fundamental insights into animal behaviour and the function of communicative signals in numerous taxa. As important as these experiments are, however, there is strong evidence to suggest that the information conveyed in a signal may only have value when presented interactively. By their very nature, signalling exchanges are interactive and therefore, an interactive playback design is a powerful tool for examining the function of such exchanges. While researchers working on frog and songbird vocal interactions have long championed interactive playback, it remains surprisingly underused across other taxa. The interactive playback approach is not limited to studies of acoustic signalling, but can be applied to other sensory modalities, including visual, chemical and electrical communication. Here, I discuss interactive playback as a potent yet underused technique in the field of animal behaviour. I present a concise review of studies that have used interactive playback thus far, describe how it can be applied, and discuss its limitations and challenges. My hope is that this review will result in more scientists applying this innovative technique to their own study subjects, as a means of furthering our understanding of the function of signalling interactions in animal communication systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L King
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
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Vehrencamp SL, Ellis JM, Cropp BF, Koltz JM. Negotiation of territorial boundaries in a songbird. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 25:1436-1450. [PMID: 25419086 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2014] [Revised: 07/03/2014] [Accepted: 07/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
How do territorial neighbors resolve the location of their boundaries? We addressed this question by testing the predictions of 2 nonexclusive game theoretical models for competitive signaling: the sequential assessment game and the territorial bargaining game. Our study species, the banded wren, is a neotropical nonmigratory songbird living in densely packed territorial neighborhoods. The males possess repertoires of approximately 25 song types that are largely shared between neighbors and sequentially delivered with variable switching rates. Over 3 days, boundary disputes among pairs of neighboring males were synchronously recorded, their perch positions were marked, and their behavioral interactions were noted. For each countersinging interaction between 2 focal males, we quantified approach and retreat order, a variety of song and call patterns, closest approach distance, distance from the territorial center, and female presence. Aggressors produced more rattle-buzz songs during the approaching phase of interactions, whereas defenders overlapped their opponent's songs. During the close phase of the interaction, both males matched frequently, but the key determinant of which one retreated first was song-type diversity-first retreaters sang with a higher diversity. Retreaters also produced more unshared song types during the interaction, and in the retreating phase of the interaction, they overlapped more. A negative correlation between song-type diversity asymmetry and contest duration suggested sequential assessment of motivational asymmetry. The use of this graded signal, which varied with distance from the center and indicated a male's motivation to defend a particular position, supported the bargaining model. The bargaining game could be viewed as a series of sequential assessment contests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra L Vehrencamp
- Lab of Ornithology and Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Mudd Hall, 215 Tower Road, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14853 , USA
| | - Jesse M Ellis
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, Terasaki Life Sciences Bldg, 610 Charles E. Young East, University of California Los Angeles , Los Angeles, CA 90095 , USA , and
| | - Brett F Cropp
- Division of Health Sciences Informatics, 2024 East Monument Street, Suite 1-200, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine , Baltimore, MD 21205 , USA
| | - John M Koltz
- Lab of Ornithology and Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Mudd Hall, 215 Tower Road, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY 14853 , USA
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Courvoisier H, Camacho-Schlenker S, Aubin T. When neighbours are not ‘dear enemies’: a study in the winter wren, Troglodytes troglodytes. Anim Behav 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Searcy WA, Akçay C, Nowicki S, Beecher MD. Aggressive Signaling in Song Sparrows and Other Songbirds. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-800286-5.00003-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Hof D, Podos J. Escalation of aggressive vocal signals: a sequential playback study. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20131553. [PMID: 23926156 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Rival conspecifics often produce stereotyped sequences of signals as agonistic interactions escalate. Successive signals in sequence are thought to convey increasingly pronounced levels of aggressive motivation. Here, we propose and test a model of aggressive escalation in black-throated blue warblers, presenting subjects with two sequential and increasingly elevated levels of threat. From a speaker outside the territorial boundary, we initiated an interaction (low-threat level), and from a second speaker inside the territory, accompanied by a taxidermic mount, we subsequently simulated a territorial intrusion (escalated threat level). Our two main predictions were that signalling behaviours in response to low-threat boundary playback would predict signalling responses to the escalated within-territory threat, and that these latter signalling behaviours would in turn reliably predict attack. We find clear support for both predictions: (i) specific song types (type II songs) produced early in the simulated interaction, in response to boundary playback, predicted later use of low-amplitude 'soft' song, in response to within-territory playback; and (ii) soft song, in turn, predicted attack of the mount. Unexpectedly, use of the early-stage signal (type II song) itself did not predict attack, despite its apparent role in aggressive escalation. This raises the intriguing question of whether type II song can actually be considered a reliable aggressive signal. Overall, our results provide new empirical insights into how songbirds may use progressive vocal signalling to convey increasing levels of threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Hof
- Department of Biology and Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
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King SL, Sayigh LS, Wells RS, Fellner W, Janik VM. Vocal copying of individually distinctive signature whistles in bottlenose dolphins. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20130053. [PMID: 23427174 PMCID: PMC3619487 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2013] [Accepted: 01/24/2013] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal learning is relatively common in birds but less so in mammals. Sexual selection and individual or group recognition have been identified as major forces in its evolution. While important in the development of vocal displays, vocal learning also allows signal copying in social interactions. Such copying can function in addressing or labelling selected conspecifics. Most examples of addressing in non-humans come from bird song, where matching occurs in an aggressive context. However, in other animals, addressing with learned signals is very much an affiliative signal. We studied the function of vocal copying in a mammal that shows vocal learning as well as complex cognitive and social behaviour, the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Copying occurred almost exclusively between close associates such as mother-calf pairs and male alliances during separation and was not followed by aggression. All copies were clearly recognizable as such because copiers consistently modified some acoustic parameters of a signal when copying it. We found no evidence for the use of copying in aggression or deception. This use of vocal copying is similar to its use in human language, where the maintenance of social bonds appears to be more important than the immediate defence of resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L. King
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Laela S. Sayigh
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
| | - Randall S. Wells
- Chicago Zoological Society, c/o Mote Marine Laboratory, 1600 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA
| | - Wendi Fellner
- The Seas, Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort, 2016 Avenue of the Stars, EC Trl. W-251, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830, USA
| | - Vincent M. Janik
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
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Akçay Ç, Tom ME, Campbell SE, Beecher MD. Song type matching is an honest early threat signal in a hierarchical animal communication system. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20122517. [PMID: 23378665 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Aggressive encounters between animals often involve significant amounts of signalling before or in lieu of physical fights. When, as is often the case, these apparent threat signals are neither inherently costly nor inherently indicative of fighting ability, we should ask whether they are in fact honest signals, i.e. do they predict that escalation is imminent? While signalling theories have indicated that such 'conventional' threat signals can honestly predict escalation, attempts to gather supporting empirical evidence have mostly failed. For example, recent studies in songbirds of song type matching (replying to an opponent's song with the same song type he has just sung) have failed to confirm that it predicts an eventual attack by the signaller. In the present study of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), we tested the hypothesis that song type matching is an early threat signal in a hierarchical signalling system. We used an improved model-playback design that simulated an escalating intrusion onto the subject's territory: the simulated opponent first sang in hiding from the boundary before moving to the centre of the territory, where he revealed himself and continued to sing. We found that type matching beginning in the boundary phase and continuing into the escalation phase, or beginning immediately after the escalation, reliably predicted both subsequent escalated signalling (soft songs and wing waves) and subsequent attack on the model, supporting the hypothesis that type matching is a reliable early threat signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Çağlar Akçay
- Laboratory of Ornithology, Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
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Baker TM, Wilson DR, Mennill DJ. Vocal signals predict attack during aggressive interactions in black-capped chickadees. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.07.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Dalziell AH, Magrath RD. Fooling the experts: accurate vocal mimicry in the song of the superb lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Hughes M, Hyman J. Should I Stay or Should I Go Now: Late Establishment and Low Site Fidelity as Alternative Territorial Behaviors. Ethology 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2011.01950.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Sprau P, Mundry R. Song type sharing in common nightingales, Luscinia megarhynchos, and its implications for cultural evolution. Anim Behav 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2010.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Kiefer S, Sommer C, Scharff C, Kipper S. Singing the Popular Songs? Nightingales Share More Song Types with Their Breeding Population in Their Second Season than in Their First. Ethology 2010. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01774.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Kipper S, Kiefer S. Age-Related Changes in Birds' Singing Styles. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3454(10)41003-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
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Lindquist WB, Chase ID. Data-Based Analysis of Winner-Loser Models of Hierarchy Formation in Animals. Bull Math Biol 2009; 71:556-84. [DOI: 10.1007/s11538-008-9371-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2008] [Accepted: 11/07/2008] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Beecher MD. Chapter 4 Function and Mechanisms of Song Learning in Song Sparrows*. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2008. [DOI: 10.1016/s0065-3454(08)00004-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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Weiss BM, Symonds H, Spong P, Ladich F. Intra- and intergroup vocal behavior in resident killer whales, Orcinus orca. THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2007; 122:3710-6. [PMID: 18247778 DOI: 10.1121/1.2799907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Vocal communication within and between groups of individuals has been described extensively in birds and terrestrial mammals, however, little is known about how cetaceans utilize their sounds in their natural environment. Resident killer whales, Orcinus orca, live in highly stable matrilines and exhibit group-specific vocal dialects. Single call types cannot exclusively be associated with particular behaviors and calls are thought to function in group identification and intragroup communication. In the present study call usage of three closely related matrilines of the Northern resident community was compared in various intra- and intergroup contexts. In two out of the three matrilines significant changes in vocal behavior depending both on the presence and identity of accompanying whales were found. Most evidently, family-specific call subtypes, as well as aberrant and variable calls, were emitted at higher rates, whereas "low arousal" call types were used less in the presence of matrilines from different pods, subclans, or clans. Ways in which the observed changes may function both in intra- and intergroup communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte M Weiss
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
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Vehrencamp SL, Hall ML, Bohman ER, Depeine CD, Dalziell AH. Song matching, overlapping, and switching in the banded wren: the sender's perspective. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007; 18:849-859. [PMID: 18392112 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arm054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Interpreting receiver responses to on-territory playback of aggressive signals is problematic. One solution is to combine such receiver-perspective experiments with a sender-perspective experiment that allows subjects to demonstrate how their choice of singing strategies is associated with their approach behavior. Here we report the results of a sender-perspective study on the banded wren (Thryothorus pleurostictus), and combine information on context and results of previous receiver-perspective experiments to clarify function. Territorial males were presented with a 5-min playback consisting of song types present in their repertoire. We assessed the degree to which the subjects' song matching rate, overlapping rate, and song-type versatility were correlated with their approach latency, closeness of approach, latency to first retreat, and time spent close to the speaker. Male age, breeding stage, and features of the playback stimuli were also considered. Song matching was associated with rapid and close approach, consistent with the receiver-perspective interpretation of type matching as a conventional signal of aggressive motivation. Overlapping was associated with earlier retreat, and together with the aversive receiver response to our previous overlapping playback experiment suggests that overlapping is a defensive withdrawal signal. High versatility was associated with slower first retreat from the speaker and high levels of reciprocal matching between subject and playback. Males with fledglings sang with particularly low versatility and approached the speaker aggressively, whereas males with nestlings overlapped more and retreated quickly. Finally, older males matched more but overlapped less.
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