Unit 1 Making a Living in the Wild

Chapter 9 Part 1

Communication

Communication

• Sender sends signal to receiver

• Receiver responds in some way

• Leads to an advantage to sender

• Can also be advantage to receiver w/o intention

Channels of communication

• Sound• Visual• Touch• Smell• Electric fields• Substrate vibration

Sound

• Calls- short• Songs- long• Language- most

complex• Good: radiates in all

directions at once, can easily be turned on/off

• Bad: takes E, heard by pred

• Used to notify of proximate pred

Visual messages

• Good: easily identified, little error, quickly transmitted, directional, contains lots of info

• Bad: not over long distances, easily blocked, need light

• Light: can create light as a signal

• Some can change color quickly

Touch messages

• Must be in close contact

• Communicates dominance or submission

• Giving of a food message

• Initiate transport message

Chemical message

• Chemical pathways- most universal form of communication

• Pheromones• Cheap to produce,

less risky to attract attention, last long time, good in day or night, not good after inclement weather

Releasers vs. primers

• Chemical releasers affect behavior of another individual

• Primers directly affect other individual’s physiology

• Bruce effect-tendency for female rodents to terminate their pregnancies following exposure to the scent of an unfamiliar male

Fxns of communication: 2 theories of why it evolved

• 1. Share info about what the animal will do next

• 2. To manipulate other’s behaviors b/c advantageous to themselves

Comm is specific to a group

• Social releasers- elicit distinctive social behaviors of the same species

• Ritualization- signals become part of the social communication

• Recognition fxns- be able to recognize their own species, group, family, mated pairs, offspring

• Primates have distinct facial characteristics

• Voices

Group coordination

• Whales live in groups called pods

• Each group has own dialect

• Young learn by imitating adults

• Alarm- warns others of danger by sound or chemical

• Hunting- more efficient

• Foraging- can show location to others