The Evolution, Function, and Meaning of Marmot Alarm Communication

نویسنده

  • Daniel T. Blumstein
چکیده

When strolling through your favorite habitat, it is not uncommon to hear birds or mammals emit alarm calls (Klump and Shalter, 1984), particularly if you’re strolling with a domestic predator! These striking and often easily identified vocalizations are often loud and localizable (Hurd, 1996; Wood et al., 2000) and may be directed to both predators and conspecifics. Because predators may be better able to locate a caller, emitting these calls creates an evolutionary paradox: why call if it increases the likelihood of a caller being detected by a predator and killed (Maynard Smith, 1965)? One solution to this paradox is that if, by calling, individuals save their relatives, kin selection can explain its adaptive utility (Keller and Reeve, 2002). Alarm calls are thus a system in which we can study the dynamics of altruism. Moreover, because alarm calls may be directed to conspecifics, we can study their meaning. By meaning, I refer here specifically to their information content (Halliday, 1983; Macedonia and Evans, 1993). Calls could contain potentially referential information about the specific type of predator, and/or calls could contain information about the degree of risk that the caller faces when calling (Evans, 1997; Macedonia and Evans, 1993). Alarm calling is thus a system in which we can study the evolution and adaptive utility of complex communication and referentiality—a necessary component of human language. Calls can also contain other information, such as the identity, sex, and age of the caller. Thus, alarm‐calling systems may offer us some unique insights into the adaptive significance of individuality.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

A test of the acoustic adaptation hypothesis in four species of marmots.

Acoustic signals must be transmitted from a signaller to a receiver during which time they become modified. The acoustic adaptation hypothesis suggests that selection should shape the structure of long-distance signals to maximize transmission through different habitats. A specific prediction of the acoustic adaptation hypothesis is that long-distance signals of animals in their native habitat ...

متن کامل

On Feasibility of Adaptive Level Hardware Evolution for Emergent Fault Tolerant Communication

A permanent physical fault in communication lines usually leads to a failure. The feasibility of evolution of a self organized communication is studied in this paper to defeat this problem. In this case a communication protocol may emerge between blocks and also can adapt itself to environmental changes like physical faults and defects. In spite of faults, blocks may continue to function since ...

متن کامل

The evolution of vocal alarm communication in rodents

On encountering a predator, many species emit potentially risky vocalizations known as alarm calls. We evaluated the relative importance of two adaptive hypotheses on the evolution of calling: (1) communicating to predators, which may function by deterring pursuit and hence increasing individual survival, and (2) an alternative nepotistic hypothesis for alarm calling whereby callers obtain dire...

متن کامل

The evolution of the meaning of the word nurse based on the classical texts of Persian literature

Background and Aim: The semantic evolution of a word over time is inevitable, indicating a social, political, religious or cultural process. Nurse is one of the words that has a significant presence in Persian literature texts and has been used in many different meanings such as slave, servan, maid, devotee, obedient, patient and preserver. The purpose of this study is to show its semantic ev...

متن کامل

Applying the coalitionary-traits metric: sociality without cooperation in male yellow-bellied marmots

Mammalian sociality varies both within and between species. We developed a trait-based method to quantify sociality in a continuous way to study the adaptive utility and evolution of male social behavior. The metric is based on 3 key traits—mutual tolerance, collaboration, and partner preference; males with no traits are not social, whereas those with all 3 traits are described as forming coali...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2007