The information banded mongooses extract from heterospecific alarms

Müller, Corsin A.; Manser, Marta B.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.012

Cited by 31 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…First, they emphasize that individuals are selected to exploit any available information sources when making risk-sensitive decisions, whether incidental features of companions and the environment (Blumstein et al 2004;Monclus et al 2005), or actively broadcast signals, either conspecific (Manser et al 2002) or heterospecific (Rainey et al 2004;Magrath et al 2007;Muller & Manser 2008). Second, they highlight an important reinterpretation of vigilance in social groups: increased vigilance by companions, rather than allowing a relaxation of personal vigilance (Pulliam 1973;Bahr & Bekoff 1999), instead may often indicate that risk has increased, which should select for increased personal vigilance (Sirot 2006;Beauchamp 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The value of constant surveillance in a risky environment

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In risky environments, where threats are unpredictable and the quality of information about threats is variable, all individuals face two fundamental challenges: balancing vigilance against other activities, and determining when to respond to warning signals. The solution to both is to obtain continuous estimates of background risk, enabling vigilance to be concentrated during the riskiest periods and informing about the likely cost of ignoring warnings. Human surveillance organizations routinely produce such estimates, frequently derived from indirect cues. Here we show that vigilant individuals in an animal society (the pied babbler, Turdoides bicolor) perform a similar role. We ask (i) whether, in the absence of direct predator threats, pied babbler sentinels react to indirect information associated with increased risk and whether they communicate this information to group mates; (ii) whether group mates use this information to adjust their own vigilance, and whether this influences foraging success; and (iii) whether information provided by sentinels reduces the likelihood of inappropriate responses to alarm calls. Using playback experiments, we show that: (i) sentinels reacted to indirect predator cues (in the form of heterospecific alarm calls) by giving graded surveillance calls; (ii) foragers adjusted their vigilance in reaction to changes in surveillance calls, with substantial effects on foraging success; and (iii) foragers reduced their probability of responding to alarm calls when surveillance calls indicated lowered risk. These results demonstrate that identifying attacks as they occur is only part of vigilance: equally important is continuous surveillance providing information necessary for individuals to make decisions about their own vigilance and evasive action. Moreover, they suggest that a major benefit of group living is not only the increased likelihood of detecting threats, but a marked improvement in the quality of information available to each individual.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The value of constant surveillance in a risky environment

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Müller and Manser (2008) reported that banded mongooses Mungos mungo responded to alarm calls of three plover Vanellus species suggesting that banded mongooses use heterospecific alarms for predator avoidance but do not use additional information provided in these signals (high vs. low urgency). Vitousek et al (2007) found even a response of a non-vocal reptile to the alarm calls of a bird.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

A possible phylogenetically conserved urgency response of great tits (Parus major) towards allopatric mobbing calls

Randler

2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Black-capped chickadees Poecile atricapillus alter the number of D notes of their chick-a-dee call to reflect urgency and threat. Here, I tested whether heterospecific responses of an allopatric species to these mobbing calls occur. Heterospecific chickadee mobbing calls and songs from North America were broadcast to European great tits (Parus major) and compared with conspecific mobbing calls. During conspecific mobbing playbacks, all great tits approached the speaker, during the heterospecific "chick-a-dee" playbacks, 63.3% individuals approached the speaker, while during the song playback, only 31.3% of the great tits approached the speaker. Minimum distances of great tits were lower during conspecific mobbing calls compared to allopatric chick-a-dee calls and to allopatric chickadee song. Also, minimum distances were lower when comparing allopatric chick-a-dee calls and chickadee song. Great tits approached the speaker on average down to (mean ± SE) 20.0±1.8 m during playbacks of 1-4 D elements, to 17.7 ± 2.0 m during playbacks of 5-7 D elements and down to 11.5±2.0 m during playbacks of 8-11 D elements. The number of D notes was inversely related to minimum distance. Thus, the urgency message encoded in the D notes was perceived also by an allopatric but phylogenetically related European species, suggesting that the heterospecific response is possibly phylogenetically conserved.

show abstract

“…Similarly, young vervet monkeys, Cercopithecus aethiops, acquire the ability to respond to the alarm calls of starlings as they age, and do so more quickly when exposed to more starling alarms, suggesting learning (Hauser 1988). Learning rather than similarity is likely to be important in species responding to heterospecific alarm calls that differ from their own, such as among birds (Hurd 1996;Templeton & Greene 2007), among mammals (Shriner 1998;Zuberbü hler 2000;Fichtel 2004) and when birds respond to mammal alarms (Rainey et al 2004) or mammals respond to bird alarms (Mü ller & Manser 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognition of other species' aerial alarm calls: speaking the same language or learning another?

2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Alarm calls given by other species potentially provide a network of information about danger, but little is known about the role of acoustic similarity compared with learning in recognition of heterospecific calls. In particular, the aerial 'hawk' alarm calls of passerines provide a textbook example of signal design because many species have converged on a design that thwarts eavesdropping by hawks, and call similarity might therefore allow recognition. We measured the response of fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) to playback of acoustically similar scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis) aerial alarm calls. First, if call similarity prompts escape independent of learning, then fairy-wrens should flee to playback of scrubwren calls outside their geographical range. However, fairy-wrens fled only in sympatry. Second, if call similarity is necessary for learning heterospecific calls, then fairy-wrens should not respond to sympatric species with different calls. We found, on the contrary, that fairy-wrens fled to the very different aerial alarm calls of a honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae). Furthermore, response to the honeyeater depended on the specific structure of the call, not acoustic similarity. Overall, call similarity was neither sufficient nor necessary for interspecific recognition, implying learning is essential in the complex task of sifting the acoustic world for cues about danger.

show abstract

The information banded mongooses extract from heterospecific alarms

Abstract: The information banded mongooses extract from heterospecific alarms

Cited by 31 publications

References 33 publications

The value of constant surveillance in a risky environment

The value of constant surveillance in a risky environment

A possible phylogenetically conserved urgency response of great tits (Parus major) towards allopatric mobbing calls

Recognition of other species' aerial alarm calls: speaking the same language or learning another?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About