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An Introduction to Animal CommunicationBy: Erin Gillam (Department of Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University ) © 2012 Nature

Education

Citation: Gillam, E. (2012) An Introduction to Animal Communication. Nature Education

Knowledge 3(10):0

The ability to communicate effectively with other individuals plays a critical role in the lives of all animals.

Whether we are examining how moths attract a mate, ground squirrels convey information about nearby

predators, or chimpanzees maintain positions in a dominance hierarchy, communication systems are involved.

Here, I provide a primer about the types of communication signals used by animals and the variety of functions

they serve.

nimal communication is classically defined as occurring when !...the action of or cue given by one organism "the

sender# is perceived by and thus alters the probability pattern of behavior in another organism "the receiver# in a

fashion adaptive to either one both of the participants$ %Wilson &'()*. While both a sender and receiver must be

involved for communication to occur %+igure &*, in some cases only one player benefits from the interaction. +or

example, female hoturis fireflies manipulate smaller, male hotinus fireflies by mimic-ing the flash signals

produced by hotinus females. When males investigate the signal, they are voraciously consumed by the larger

firefly %loyd &'()/ +igure 0*. This is clearly a case where the sender benefits and the receiver does not.

lternatively, in the case of fringe1lipped bats, Trachops cirrhosus, and tungara frogs, Physalaemus pustulosus,

the receiver is the only player that benefits from the interaction. 2ale tungara frogs produce advertisement calls

to attract females to their location/ while the signal is designed to be received by females, eavesdropping fringe1

lipped bats also detect the calls, and use that information to locate and capture frogs %3yan et al . &'40*. 5espitethese examples, there are many cases in which both the sender and receiver benefit from exchanging

information. 6reater sage grouse nicely illustrate such !true communication$/ during the mating season, males

produce strutting displays that are energetically expensive, and females use this honest information about male

quality to choose which individuals to mate with %7ehrencamp et al . &'4'*.


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the animal to build a picture of their surrounding environment and ma-e very accurate assessments of prey

location.

:ompared to visual and acoustic modalities, chemical signals travel much more slowly through the environment

since they must diffuse from the point source of production. ;et, these signals can be transmitted over long

distances and fade slowly once produced. In many moth species, females produce chemical cues and males

follow the trail to the female


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species of mormyrid fish produce species1specific electrical pulses, which are primarily used for locating prey via

electrolocation, but also allow individuals searching for mates to distinguish conspecifics from heterospecifics.

+oraging shar-s have the ability to detect electrical signals using specialized electroreceptor cells in the head

region, which are used for eavesdropping on the wea- bioelectric fields of prey %von der ?mde &''4*.

&i"nal !unction#8ome of the most extravagant communication signals play important roles in sexual advertisement and mate

attraction. 8uccessful reproduction requires identifying a mate of the appropriate species and sex, as well as

assessing indicators of mate quality. 2ale satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus, use visual signals to

attract females by building elaborate bowers decorated with brightly colored ob9ects. When a female approaches

the bower, the male produces an elaborate dance, which may or may not end with the female allowing the male

to copulate with her %@orgia &'4)*. 2ales that do not produce such visual signals have little chance of securing a

mate. While females are generally the choosy sex due to greater reproductive investment, there are species in

which sexual roles are reversed and females produce signals to attract males. +or example, in the deep1snouted

pipefish,Syngnathus typhle, females that produce a temporary striped pattern during the mating period are more

attractive to males than unornamented females %@erglund et al . &''(*.

:ommunication signals also play an important role in conflict resolution, including territory defense. When malesare competing for access to females, the costs of engaging in physical combat can be very high/ hence natural

selection has favored the evolution of communication systems that allow males to honestly assess the fighting

ability of their opponents without engaging in combat. 3ed deer, Cervus elaphus, exhibit such a complex

signaling system. 5uring the mating season, males strongly defend a group of females, yet fighting among males

is relatively uncommon. Instead, males exchange signals indicative of fighting ability, including roaring and

parallel wal-s. n altercation between two males most often escalates to a physical fight when individuals are

closely matched in size, and the exchange of visual and acoustic signals is insufficient for determining which

animal is most li-ely to win a fight %:lutton1@roc- et al . &'('*.

:ommunication signals are often critical for allowing animals to relocate and accurately identify their own young.

In species that produce altricial young, adults regularly leave their offspring at refugia, such as a nest, to forage

and gather resources. Apon returning, adults must identify their own offspring, which can be especially difficult in

highly colonial species. @razilian free1tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis, form cave colonies containing millions of

bats/ when females leave the cave each night to forage, they place their pup in a crBche that contains thousands

of other young. When females return to the roost, they face the challenge of locating their own pups among

thousands of others. 3esearchers originally thought that such a discriminatory tas- was impossible, and that

females simply fed any pups that approached them, yet further wor- revealed that females find and nurse their

own pup 4>C of the time %2c:rac-en &'4=, @alcombe &''D*. +emales are able to ma-e such fantastic

discriminations using a combination of spatial memory, acoustic signaling, and chemical signaling. 8pecifically,

pups produce individually1distinct !isolation calls$, which the mother can recognize and detect from a moderate

distance. Apon closer inspection of a pup, females use scent to further confirm the pup


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!i"ure

7ervet mon-eys.

2any animals have sophisticated communication signals for facilitating integration of individuals into a group and

maintaining group cohesion. In group1living species that form dominance hierarchies, communication is critical

for maintaining ameliorative relationships between dominants and subordinates. In chimpanzees, lower1ran-ing

individuals produce submissive displays toward higher1ran-ing individuals, such as crouching and emitting !pant1

grunt$ vocalizations. In turn, dominants produce reconciliatory signals that are indicative of low aggression.

:ommunication systems also are important for coordinating group movements. :ontact calls, which inform

individuals about the location of groupmates that are not in visual range, are used by a wide variety of birds and

mammals.

Fverall, studying communication not only gives us insight into the inner worlds of animals, but also allows us to

better answer important evolutionary questions. s an example, when two isolated populations exhibit

divergence over time in the structure of signals use to attract mates, reproductive isolation can occur. This means

that even if the populations converge again in the future, the distinct differences in critical communication signals

may cause individuals to only select mates from their own population. +or example, three species of lacewings

that are closely related and loo- identical are actually reproductively isolated due to differences in the low1

frequency songs produced by males/ females respond much more readily to songs from their own species

compared to songs from other species %2artinez, Wells E Henry &''0*. thorough understanding of animal

communication systems can also be critical for ma-ing effective decisions about conservation of threatened and

endangered species. s an example, recent research has focused on understanding how human1generated

noise %from cars, trains, etc* can impact communication in a variety of animals %3abin et al . 0DD>*. s the field of

animal communication continues to expand, we will learn more about information exchange in a wide variety of

species and better understand the fantastic variety of signals we see animals produce in nature.


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Glo##ary

7omeronasal organ G auxiliary olfactory organ that detects chemosensory cues

ltricial G the state of being born in an immature state and relying exclusively on parental care for survival during

early development

3efugia G areas that provide concealment from predators andor protection from harsh environmental conditions

:onspecifics G organisms of the same species

e$erence# and ecommended eadin"

@alcombe, .. 7ocal recognition of pups by mother 2exican free1tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis

mexicana. Animal Behaviour 3*, 'JD1'JJ %&''D*.

@erglund, ., 3osenqvist 6. and @ernet . Frnamentation predicts reproductive success in female

pipefish. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 0, &=)1&)D %&''(*.

:lutton1@roc-, T., lbon 8., 6ibson 8. E 6uinness +. The logical stagK daptive aspects of fighing in the red

deer. Animal Behaviour 2, 0&&100) %&'('*.

de Waal [email protected]. +ood sharing and reciprocal obligations among chimpanzees. Journal of Human Evolution 1+,

=>>G=)' %&'4'*.

Hauser, 2. &''(. The Evolution of Communication. :ambridge, 2K 2IT ress.

loyd, .?. ggressive mimicry in hoturisK signal repertoires by femmes fatales. Science 1*, =)01=)> %&'()*.

2arler, . :haracteristics of some animal calls. ature 1, J14 %&'))*.

2artinez Well, 2. E Henry :.8. The role of courtship songs in reproductive isolation among populations of green

lacewings of the genus Chrysoperla.Evolution , >&1=> %&''0*.

2c:rac-en, 6.+. :ommunal nursing in 2exican free1tailed bat maternity colonies. Science 223, &D'D1

&D'&%&'4=*.

3abin, .., 2c:owan @., Hooper 8. E Fwings 5.H. nthropogenic noise and its effect on animal

communicationK an interface between comparative psychology and conservation biology. !nternational Journal of

Comparative Psychology 1, &(01&'0 %0DD>*.

3yan 2.., Tuttle 2.5., E 3and .8. 8exual advertisement and bat predation in a neotropical frog. American

aturalist 11*, &>JG&>' %&'40*.

8chneider, 5. The sex attractant receptors of moths. Scientific American 231, 041>) %&'(=*.

8eyfarth, 3.2., :heney 5.. E 2arler . 2on-ey responses to three different alarm callsK ?vidence for predatorclassification and semantic communication. Science 210, 4D&14D> %&'4D*.

8mith, 5. The role of the epaulets in the red1winged blac-bird, % Agelaius phoeniceus* social

system. Behaviour 1, 0)&10J4 %&'(0*.

7ehrencamp, 8.., @radbury .W., E 6ibson 3.2. The energetic cost of display in male sage grouse. Animal

Behaviour 3+, 44)14'J %&'4'*.

von der ?mde, 6. ?lectroreception. In 5. H. ?vans %ed.*. The Physiology of "ishes, pp. >&>1>=>. @oca 3aton,

+K :3: ress %&''4*.

Wilson, ?.F. Sociobiology# The e$ Synthesis. :ambridge, 2K Harvard Aniversity ress %&'()*.

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