Vocalizations in red deer (Cervus elaphus), sika deer (Cervus nippon), and red × sika hybrids

Abstract

Rutting calls of male and alarm calls of female red deer (Cervus elaphus), sika deer (C. nippon), and their hybrids were recorded from wild and captive-bred populations. Vocal variations between these species and their hybrids (C. elaphus6C. nippon) were examined using multivariate analysis to determine whether these groups could be successfully discriminated. There were highly signi®cant differences between the vocalizations of each group for both sexes (males: Wilks' L = 0.0233, P<0.0001; females: Wilks' L = 0.1338, P<0.0001). The greatest differences were between analogous calls of red and sika deer. Vocalizations of hybrids from both captive-bred and feral populations were intermediate between the two parent species. The differences between the groups were most highly in¯uenced by the pitch of calls. The results of this study indicate that the vocalizations of deer, rather than being learned or mimicked from similar species in their proximity, are strongly in¯uenced by the genetic background of their parents.

Determinants of the acoustic behaviour of red deer during breeding in a wild alpine population, and implications for species survey

“…Loud calls allow long range communication and are more effective than visual signals to advertise individual location, motivation and status to remote receivers (BRADBURY & VEHRENCAMP 1998). According to these findings, habitat type may not be a major determinant of rutting pattern, although it does affect the acoustic structure (frequencies) of calls (LONG et al 1998;REBY et al 1998;SÁNCHEZ-PRIETO et al 2004). It should be stressed that some factors not considered here, such as social ones, species ecology or human disturbance may be involved in roaring patterns as well.…”

“…Bocci et al an alternative to physical marking methods (LAIOLO et al 2007LAIOLO 2010). For rare, nocturnal or elusive species, the possibility of recognizing individuals by their vocalizations may become a useful tool in population ecology studies (birds: SAUNDERS & WOOLLER 1988;GALEOTTI & PAVAN 1991;GALEOTTI et al 1993;GILBERT et al 1994;JOUVENTIN et al 1999;PUGLISI & ADAMO 2004;VÖGELI et al 2008;mammals: LANGVATN 1977;BOBEK et al 1986;MASTERS et al 1995;LONG et al 1998;REBY et al 1999;BLUMSTEIN & MUNOS 2005). As to red deer, LANGVATN (1977) proposed a method to assess population size based on the acoustic detection of roaring stags (census by ear), estimating the social structure of the population from sightings and/or harvest data.…”

A Phylogenetic Comparison of Red Deer and Wapiti Using Mitochondrial DNA

“…However, the presence of wapiti mitochondrial haplotypes in indigenous sika populations appears to be absent (Tamate and Tsuchiya, 1995;Kuwayama and Ozawa, 2000). In regions of Britain where humans have provided an opportunity for introduced sika deer to hybridize with red deer, comparisons of vocalizations provided striking differences (Long et al, 1998). To the casual observer, there would appear to be three phenotypes of deer in areas where sika, red deer, and hybrids occur (Lowe and Gardiner, 1975).…”

“…An inability to interbreed among sika deer, red deer, and wapiti would certainly have assisted in defining these species. However, fertile hybrids are produced from crosses within the genus Cervus as well as among the genera within Cervinae (Winans, 1913;Lowe and Gardiner, 1975;Abernathy, 1994;Tate et al, 1995;Long et al, 1998).…”

The acoustic repertoire of wild common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Walvis Bay, Namibia

“…Regional assessments of vocal behaviour are necessary as geographic variation between populations is common in the sound types (Boisseau 2005;Simon et al 2006;van der Woude 2009), acoustic parameters (Morisaka et al 2005;Rossi-Santos and Podos 2006;Samarra et al 2010) and temporal production (Jones and Sayigh 2002) of vocalizations. Variation in the repertoire and acoustic characteristics of sounds produced by a population may result from ecological specialization (Barrett-Lennard et al 1996;Janik 2000a;Nowacek 2005;Simon et al 2007) or cultural processes (Noad et al 2000;Rendell and Whitehead 2003) and may reflect differing genetic, morphological or social characteristics (Long et al 1998;Mitani et al 1999;May-Collado et al 2007;Kikusui et al 2011) of species or populations. As very few studies of cetacean acoustic behaviour have ever taken place in Africa (Elwen et al 2011), regional assessments of vocalization characteristics provide a necessary baseline before more complex behavioural questions can be addressed or automated PAM programmes can be implemented (Gillespie et al 2013).…”