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English HM, Börger L, Kane A, Ciuti S. Advances in biologging can identify nuanced energetic costs and gains in predators. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2024; 12:7. [PMID: 38254232 PMCID: PMC10802026 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-024-00448-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Foraging is a key driver of animal movement patterns, with specific challenges for predators which must search for mobile prey. These patterns are increasingly impacted by global changes, principally in land use and climate. Understanding the degree of flexibility in predator foraging and social strategies is pertinent to wildlife conservation under global change, including potential top-down effects on wider ecosystems. Here we propose key future research directions to better understand foraging strategies and social flexibility in predators. In particular, rapid continued advances in biologging technology are helping to record and understand dynamic behavioural and movement responses of animals to environmental changes, and their energetic consequences. Data collection can be optimised by calibrating behavioural interpretation methods in captive settings and strategic tagging decisions within and between social groups. Importantly, many species' social systems are increasingly being found to be more flexible than originally described in the literature, which may be more readily detectable through biologging approaches than behavioural observation. Integrating the effects of the physical landscape and biotic interactions will be key to explaining and predicting animal movements and energetic balance in a changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly M English
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Luca Börger
- Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Adam Kane
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Simone Ciuti
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
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2
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Genetic distance from wolves affects family dogs' reactions towards howls. Commun Biol 2023; 6:129. [PMID: 36747107 PMCID: PMC9902479 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04450-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Domestication dramatically changes behaviour, including communication, as seen in the case of dogs (Canis familiaris) and wolves (Canis lupus). We tested the hypothesis that domestication may affect an ancient, shared communication form of canids, the howling which seems to have higher individual variation in dogs: the perception and usage of howls may be affected by the genetic relatedness of the breeds to their last common ancestor with wolves ('root distance') and by other individual features like age, sex, and reproductive status. We exposed 68 purebred dogs to wolf howl playbacks and recorded their responses. We identified an interaction between root distance and age on the dogs' vocal and behavioural responses: older dogs from more ancient breeds responded longer with howls and showed more stress behaviours. Our results suggest that domestication impacts vocal behaviour significantly: disintegrating howling, a central, species-specific communication form of canids and gradually eradicating it from dogs' repertoire.
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Wirobski G, Range F, Graat EA, Palme R, Deschner T, Marshall-Pescini S. Similar behavioral but different endocrine responses to conspecific interactions in hand-raised wolves and dogs. iScience 2023; 26:105978. [PMID: 36756369 PMCID: PMC9900400 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.105978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Domestication has altered dogs' conspecific social organization compared to their closest, non-domesticated relatives, gray wolves. Wolves live in packs whose survival depends on coordinated behavior, but dogs rely less on conspecifics, which predicts greater cohesiveness in wolf than dog packs. Endocrine correlates such as oxytocin and glucocorticoids modulate group cohesion resulting in species-specific differences in social interactions. We found that although wolves' and dogs' observable behavioral reactions to a territorial threat and separation from the pack were similar, hormonal responses differed. Wolves' but not dogs' oxytocin and glucocorticoid concentrations correlated positively with territorial behaviors and only wolves showed increased glucocorticoid concentrations after separation from their pack. Together, results suggest stronger emotional activation to threats to group integrity in wolves than dogs, in line with their socio-ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gwendolyn Wirobski
- Domestication Lab, Konrad-Lorenz-Institute for Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
- Corresponding author
| | - Friederike Range
- Domestication Lab, Konrad-Lorenz-Institute for Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Evelien A.M. Graat
- Domestication Lab, Konrad-Lorenz-Institute for Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Rupert Palme
- Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Tobias Deschner
- Institute of Cognitive Science, Comparative BioCognition, University of Osnabrück, Artilleriestrasse 34, 49076, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Sarah Marshall-Pescini
- Domestication Lab, Konrad-Lorenz-Institute for Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
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Khan S, Shrotriya S, Sadhukhan S, Lyngdoh S, Goyal SP, Habib B. Comparative Ecological Perspectives of Two Ancient Lineages of Gray Wolves: Woolly Wolf (Canis lupus chanco) and Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.775612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Geographical isolation can often lead to speciation, and two disconnected populations of the same species living in drastically different bioclimatic regions provide an opportunity to understand the process of speciation. The Woolly wolf is found in the cold-arid, Trans-Himalayan landscape, while the Indian wolf inhabits the semi-arid grasslands of Central India. Both the lineages of wolves from India have generated scientific debate on their taxonomic status in recent years. In this study, we collected data and reviewed published literature to document the ecological and behavioral differences between the Woolly wolf and the Indian wolf. Most studies have used genetic data; hence we discuss variation in spatial ecology, habitat preferences, vocalization, diet diversity and cranial measurements of these two subspecies. The spatial ecology of two lineages was compared from the data on three Woolly and ten Indian wolves tagged with GPS collars. The telemetry data shows that there has been no difference in the day-night movement of Woolly wolves, whereas Indian wolves show significant high displacement during the night. The BBMM method indicated that Woolly wolf home ranges were three times larger than the Indian wolf. The Woolly wolf diet is comprised of 20 different types of food items, whereas the Indian wolf diet consists of 17 types. The Woolly and Indian wolf largely depend upon domestic prey base, i.e., 48.44 and 40.34%, respectively. We found no differences in the howling parameters of these subspecies. Moreover, the Woolly wolf skull was significantly longer and broader than the Indian wolf. Wolves of India are ancient and diverged from the main clade about 200,000–1,000,000 years ago. Their genetic and ecological evolution in different bioclimatic zones has resulted in considerable differences as distinct subspecies. The present study is a step in understanding ecological differences between two important, genetically unique subspecies of wolves.
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Larsen HL, Pertoldi C, Madsen N, Randi E, Stronen AV, Root-Gutteridge H, Pagh S. Bioacoustic Detection of Wolves: Identifying Subspecies and Individuals by Howls. Animals (Basel) 2022; 12:ani12050631. [PMID: 35268200 PMCID: PMC8909475 DOI: 10.3390/ani12050631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 02/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary This study evaluates the use of acoustic devices as a method to monitor wolves by analyzing different variables extracted from wolf howls. By analyzing the wolf howls, we focused on identifying individual wolves, subspecies. We analyzed 170 howls from 16 individuals from the three subspecies: Arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos), Eurasian wolves (C.l. lupus), and Northwestern wolves (C.l. occidentalis). We assessed the potential for individual recognition and recognition of three subspecies: Arctic, Eurasian, and Northwestern wolves. Abstract Wolves (Canis lupus) are generally monitored by visual observations, camera traps, and DNA traces. In this study, we evaluated acoustic monitoring of wolf howls as a method for monitoring wolves, which may permit detection of wolves across longer distances than that permitted by camera traps. We analyzed acoustic data of wolves’ howls collected from both wild and captive ones. The analysis focused on individual and subspecies recognition. Furthermore, we aimed to determine the usefulness of acoustic monitoring in the field given the limited data for Eurasian wolves. We analyzed 170 howls from 16 individual wolves from 3 subspecies: Arctic (Canis lupus arctos), Eurasian (C. l. lupus), and Northwestern wolves (C. l. occidentalis). Variables from the fundamental frequency (f0) (lowest frequency band of a sound signal) were extracted and used in discriminant analysis, classification matrix, and pairwise post-hoc Hotelling test. The results indicated that Arctic and Eurasian wolves had subspecies identifiable calls, while Northwestern wolves did not, though this sample size was small. Identification on an individual level was successful for all subspecies. Individuals were correctly classified with 80%–100% accuracy, using discriminant function analysis. Our findings suggest acoustic monitoring could be a valuable and cost-effective tool that complements camera traps, by improving long-distance detection of wolves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanne Lyngholm Larsen
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark; (C.P.); (N.M.); (E.R.); (A.V.S.); (S.P.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Cino Pertoldi
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark; (C.P.); (N.M.); (E.R.); (A.V.S.); (S.P.)
| | - Niels Madsen
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark; (C.P.); (N.M.); (E.R.); (A.V.S.); (S.P.)
| | - Ettore Randi
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark; (C.P.); (N.M.); (E.R.); (A.V.S.); (S.P.)
| | - Astrid Vik Stronen
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark; (C.P.); (N.M.); (E.R.); (A.V.S.); (S.P.)
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Holly Root-Gutteridge
- Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK;
- School of Animal Rural and Environmental Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, Southwell NG25 0QF, UK
| | - Sussie Pagh
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark; (C.P.); (N.M.); (E.R.); (A.V.S.); (S.P.)
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Palacios V, Barber-Meyer SM, Martí-Domken B, Schmidt LJ. Assessing spontaneous howling rates in captive wolves using automatic passive recorders. BIOACOUSTICS 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2021.2006083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vicente Palacios
- ARCA, People and Nature, S.l, Oviedo, Spain
- ACNHE, Association for the Conservation of Nature in Human Environments, Valencia, Spain
| | - Shannon M. Barber-Meyer
- U. S. Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, North Dakota, USA
| | - Bárbara Martí-Domken
- ACNHE, Association for the Conservation of Nature in Human Environments, Valencia, Spain
| | - Lori J. Schmidt
- USA and Natural Resources Program, Vermilion Community College, The International Wolf Center, Ely, Minnesota, USA
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Krofel M, Hatlauf J, Bogdanowicz W, Campbell LAD, Godinho R, Jhala YV, Kitchener AC, Koepfli K, Moehlman P, Senn H, Sillero‐Zubiri C, Viranta S, Werhahn G, Alvares F. Towards resolving taxonomic uncertainties in wolf, dog and jackal lineages of Africa, Eurasia and Australasia. J Zool (1987) 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. Krofel
- Biotechnical Faculty University of Ljubljana Ljubljana Slovenia
| | - J. Hatlauf
- University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management Vienna Austria
| | - W. Bogdanowicz
- Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences Warszawa Poland
| | - L. A. D. Campbell
- Department of Zoology Recanati‐Kaplan Centre; Tubney University of Oxford Wildlife Conservation Research Unit Oxfordshire UK
| | - R. Godinho
- InBIO Laboratório Associado, Campus de Vairão CIBIO Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos Universidade do Porto Vairão Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO Vairão Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Ciências Universidade do Porto Porto Portugal
| | - Y. V. Jhala
- Animal Ecology & Conservation Biology Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun India
| | - A. C. Kitchener
- Department of Natural Sciences National Museums Scotland Edinburgh UK
| | - K.‐P. Koepfli
- Smithsonian‐Mason School of Conservation George Mason University Front Royal VA USA
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute Center for Species Survival National Zoological Park Front Royal VA USA
- Computer Technologies Laboratory ITMO University St. Petersburg Russia
| | - P. Moehlman
- IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) EcoHealth Alliance and The Earth Institute Columbia University Arusha Tanzania
| | - H. Senn
- WildGenes Laboratory Conservation and Science Programmes Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, RZSS Edinburgh UK
| | - C. Sillero‐Zubiri
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Zoology University of Oxford Tubney UK
- IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group Oxford UK
- Born Free Foundation Horsham UK
| | - S. Viranta
- Faculty of Medicine University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland
| | - G. Werhahn
- IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group Oxford UK
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Zoology University of Oxford Tubney UK
| | - F. Alvares
- CIBIO Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos InBIO Laboratório Associado Universidade do Porto Vairão Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning CIBIO Vairão Portugal
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8
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Hersh TA, Gero S, Rendell L, Whitehead H. Using identity calls to detect structure in acoustic datasets. Methods Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Taylor A. Hersh
- Department of Biology Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
| | - Shane Gero
- Department of Biology Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
- Zoophysiology Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark
| | - Luke Rendell
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution School of Biology University of St. Andrews St. Andrews UK
| | - Hal Whitehead
- Department of Biology Dalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
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9
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Sadhukhan S, Root-Gutteridge H, Habib B. Identifying unknown Indian wolves by their distinctive howls: its potential as a non-invasive survey method. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7309. [PMID: 33790346 PMCID: PMC8012383 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86718-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have posited the use of acoustics-based surveys to monitor population size and estimate their density. However, decreasing the bias in population estimations, such as by using Capture-Mark-Recapture, requires the identification of individuals using supervised classification methods, especially for sparsely populated species like the wolf which may otherwise be counted repeatedly. The cryptic behaviour of Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) poses serious challenges to survey efforts, and thus, there is no reliable estimate of their population despite a prominent role in the ecosystem. Like other wolves, Indian wolves produce howls that can be detected over distances of more than 6 km, making them ideal candidates for acoustic surveys. Here, we explore the use of a supervised classifier to identify unknown individuals. We trained a supervised Agglomerative Nesting hierarchical clustering (AGNES) model using 49 howls from five Indian wolves and achieved 98% individual identification accuracy. We tested our model's predictive power using 20 novel howls from a further four individuals (test dataset) and resulted in 75% accuracy in classifying howls to individuals. The model can reduce bias in population estimations using Capture-Mark-Recapture and track individual wolves non-invasively by their howls. This has potential for studies of wolves' territory use, pack composition, and reproductive behaviour. Our method can potentially be adapted for other species with individually distinctive vocalisations, representing an advanced tool for individual-level monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sougata Sadhukhan
- grid.452923.b0000 0004 1767 4167Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 248001 India
| | - Holly Root-Gutteridge
- grid.36511.300000 0004 0420 4262Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK ,grid.12082.390000 0004 1936 7590Reby Lab, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Bilal Habib
- grid.452923.b0000 0004 1767 4167Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 248001 India
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10
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Kořanová D, Němcová L, Policht R, Hart V, Begall S, Burda H. Wolf Howling and Emergency Sirens: A Hypothesis of Natural and Technical Convergence of Aposematic Signals. Acta Biotheor 2021; 69:53-65. [PMID: 32876792 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-020-09389-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Acoustic signals serving intraspecific communication by predators are perceived by potential prey as warning signals. We analysed the acoustic characteristics of howling of wolves and found a striking similarity to the warning sounds of technical sirens. We hypothesize that the effectivity of sirens as warning signals has been enhanced by natural sensory predisposition of humans to get alerted by howling of wolves, with which they have a long history of coexistence. Psychoacoustic similarity of both stimuli seems to be supported by the fact that wolves and dogs perceive the sound of technical sirens as a relevant releasing supernormal stimulus and reply to it with howling. Inspiration by naturally occurring acoustic aposematic signals might become an interesting example of biomimetics in designing new warning sound systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Kořanová
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Němcová
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
| | - Richard Policht
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Vlastimil Hart
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Sabine Begall
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117, Essen, Germany
| | - Hynek Burda
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 21, Prague 6, Czech Republic
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11
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Gogoleva SS. Effects of ecological factors on the acoustic parameters of passerine species in a tropical lowland forest in southern Vietnam. BIOACOUSTICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2018.1540945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Svetlana S. Gogoleva
- Department of Tropical Ecology, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Joint Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Research and Technological Centre, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Department of Ornitology, Zoological Museum of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
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12
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Sadhukhan S, Hennelly L, Habib B. Characterising the harmonic vocal repertoire of the Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216186. [PMID: 31671161 PMCID: PMC6822943 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal communication in social animals plays a crucial role in mate choice, maintaining social structure, and foraging strategy. The Indian grey wolf, among the least studied subspecies, is a social carnivore that lives in groups called packs and has many types of vocal communication. In this study, we characterise harmonic vocalisation types of the Indian wolf using howl survey responses and opportunistic recordings from captive and nine packs (each pack contains 2–9 individuals) of free-ranging Indian wolves. Using principal component analysis, hierarchical clustering, and discriminant function analysis, we found four distinct vocalisations using 270 recorded vocalisations (Average Silhouette width Si = 0.598) which include howls and howl-barks (N = 238), whimper (N = 2), social squeak (N = 28), and whine (N = 2). Although having a smaller body size compared to other wolf subspecies, Indian wolf howls have an average mean fundamental frequency of 422 Hz (±126), which is similar to other wolf subspecies. The whimper showed the highest frequency modulation (37.296±4.601) and the highest mean fundamental frequency (1708±524 Hz) compared to other call types. Less information is available on the third vocalisation type, i.e. ‘Social squeak’ or ‘talking’ (Mean fundamental frequency = 461±83 Hz), which is highly variable (coefficient of frequency variation = 18.778±3.587). Lastly, we identified the whine, which had a mean fundamental frequency of 906Hz (±242) and is similar to the Italian wolf (979±109 Hz). Our study’s characterisation of the Indian wolf’s harmonic vocal repertoire provides a first step in understanding the function and contextual use of vocalisations in this social mammal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sougata Sadhukhan
- Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India;
| | - Lauren Hennelly
- Mammalian Ecology and Conservation Unit, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
| | - Bilal Habib
- Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India;
- * E-mail:
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14
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Torti V, Valente D, De Gregorio C, Comazzi C, Miaretsoa L, Ratsimbazafy J, Giacoma C, Gamba M. Call and be counted! Can we reliably estimate the number of callers in the indri's (Indri indri) song? PLoS One 2018; 13:e0201664. [PMID: 30075022 PMCID: PMC6075759 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Estimating the number of animals participating in a choral display may contribute reliable information on animal population estimates, particularly when environmental or behavioral factors restrict the possibility of visual surveys. Difficulties in providing a reliable estimate of the number of singers in a chorus are many (e.g., background noise masking, overlap). In this work, we contributed data on the vocal chorusing of the indri lemurs (Indri indri), which emit howling cries, known as songs, uttered by two to five individuals. We examined whether we could estimate the number of emitters in a chorus by screening the fundamental frequency in the spectrograms and the total duration of the songs, and the reliability of those methods when compared to the real chorus size. The spectrographic investigation appears to provide reliable information on the number of animals participating in the chorusing only when this number is limited to two or three singers. We also found that the Acoustic Complexity Index positively correlated with the real chorus size, showing that an automated analysis of the chorus may provide information about the number of singers. We can state that song duration shows a correlation with the number of emitters but also shows a remarkable variation that remains unexplained. The accuracy of the estimates can reflect the high variability in chorus size, which could be affected by group composition, season and context. In future research, a greater focus on analyzing frequency change occurring during these collective vocal displays should improve our ability to detect individuals and allow a finer tuning of the acoustic methods that may serve for monitoring chorusing mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Torti
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Daria Valente
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Chiara De Gregorio
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Carlo Comazzi
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Longondraza Miaretsoa
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Jonah Ratsimbazafy
- Group d’Etude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar (GERP), Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Cristina Giacoma
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
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15
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Reliability of human estimates of the presence of pups and the number of wolves vocalizing in chorus howls: implications for decision-making processes. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-017-1115-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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16
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Hennelly L, Habib B, Root-Gutteridge H, Palacios V, Passilongo D. Howl variation across Himalayan, North African, Indian, and Holarctic wolf clades: tracing divergence in the world's oldest wolf lineages using acoustics. Curr Zool 2017; 63:341-348. [PMID: 29491993 PMCID: PMC5804178 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2016] [Accepted: 12/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Vocal divergence within species often corresponds to morphological, environmental, and genetic differences between populations. Wolf howls are long-range signals that encode individual, group, and subspecies differences, yet the factors that may drive this variation are poorly understood. Furthermore, the taxonomic division within the Canis genus remains contended and additional data are required to clarify the position of the Himalayan, North African, and Indian wolves within Canis lupus. We recorded 451 howls from the 3 most basal wolf lineages-Himalayan C. lupus chanco-Himalayan haplotype, North African C. lupus lupaster, and Indian C. lupus pallipes wolves-and present a howl acoustic description within each clade. With an additional 619 howls from 7 Holarctic subspecies, we used a random forest classifier and principal component analysis on 9 acoustic parameters to assess whether Himalayan, North African, and Indian wolf howls exhibit acoustic differences compared to each other and Holarctic wolf howls. Generally, both the North African and Indian wolf howls exhibited high mean fundamental frequency (F0) and short duration compared to the Holarctic clade. In contrast, the Himalayan wolf howls typically had lower mean F0, unmodulated frequencies, and short howls compared to Holarctic wolf howls. The Himalayan and North African wolves had the most acoustically distinct howls and differed significantly from each other and to the Holarctic wolves. Along with the influence of body size and environmental differences, these results suggest that genetic divergence and/or geographic distance may play an important role in understanding howl variation across subspecies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Hennelly
- Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
| | - Bilal Habib
- Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
| | | | - Vicente Palacios
- Cavanilles Institute for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Avenue de Blasco Ibáñez, Valéncia 46010, Spain
| | - Daniela Passilongo
- Ricerca sulla Selvaggina e sui Miglioramenti Ambientali a Fini Faunistici (C.I.R.Se.M.A.F.), Piazzale delle Cascine 18, Firenze, 1-50144, Italy
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Kershenbaum A, Déaux ÉC, Habib B, Mitchell B, Palacios V, Root-Gutteridge H, Waller S. Measuring acoustic complexity in continuously varying signals: how complex is a wolf howl? BIOACOUSTICS 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2017.1317287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Éloïse C. Déaux
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Bilal Habib
- Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
| | - Brian Mitchell
- The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - Vicente Palacios
- Instituto Cavanilles de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | | | - Sara Waller
- Department of Philosophy, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
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18
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Valletta JJ, Torney C, Kings M, Thornton A, Madden J. Applications of machine learning in animal behaviour studies. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 230] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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19
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Déaux EC, Clarke JA, Charrier I. Dingo Howls: The Content and Efficacy of a Long-Range Vocal Signal. Ethology 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Eloïse C. Déaux
- Department of Biological Sciences; Macquarie University; Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Jennifer A. Clarke
- Department of Biological Sciences; Macquarie University; Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Isabelle Charrier
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay; UMR 9197; CNRS; Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Sud; Orsay France
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