Communication Flashcards
Spotted hyena
- greeting
females have strange display
- smell between legs
spotted hyena
- reproduction system
- impacts on young mothers
birth offspring through bent birth canal and elongated pseudopenis
birth complications are common in 1st babies
-> young mother often die
spotted hyena
- social rank
- effects on high ranking mothers
live in social clans led by females
- females dominant over all males
have cubs with higher survival rates
+ have high-ranking daughters
spotted hyena
- pseudopenis explanations
- by-products of high ranking mothers
- females may mimic males
- gives females control over mates
pseudopenis explanations
- by product of high ranking mothers
- is this adaptive or not?
high ranking mothers have elevated androgen production
-> form pseudopenis
not adaptive
why is the non-adaptive explanation of a pseudpenis unlikely?
testosterone concs in female spotted hyenas:
> similar to those in other female mammals
> an order of magnitude lower than conc in reproductively active males
pseudopenis formation appears androgen independent
pseudopenis explanations
- females mimic males
- is this adaptive or not?
can drive higher social status
- useful trait in hyena society
adaptive
pseudopenis explanations
- female mating control
- how does this affect reproduction rate?
- is this adaptive or not?
females have control over who to mate with
indirectly increases rte by choosing the best mates for the best offspring
adaptive
communication
- define
process in which actors use specifically designed signals to modify the behaviour of reactors
not random
signal
- define
any trait/behaviour designed to alter the behaviour of 1 or more receivers
aggression vs threat displays
- define
behaviour between members of same species intended to cause pain/harm
ritualised showing of of weaponry
could escalate into fight
aggression
- example
throat patches in side-blotched lizards
3 different coloured throat patches
- orange, blue and yellow
all have distinct behavioural strategies
- none of which is an overall winner
aggression
- orange-throated lizard
largest
weak pair bonds
fights blue males for females
cannot defend against yellow males (too fast)
aggression
- blue-throated lizard
medium-sized
defend strong pair bonds
outcompeted by orange males
can defend against yellow males
aggression
- yellow-throated lizard
smallest
no pair bonds
mate with females behind orange male’s backs
cannot approach blue guarding males
lizards
- patch colour signalling
signals to each other
e.g. blue throats recognise each other + work together
foraging
- bee example
honey bee dance
- round dance = close food resource
- waggle dance = distant
can tell direction and distance to food source
foraging
- bee communication training
learn the behaviour - not born with it
experimental training
-> then test no. of bees that find the source
can identify bad communicators
foraging
- leaf cutter ants chemical communication example
travel up to 300m to get leaves
-> lay trail pheromones to find way back to colony
predation
- interspecies communication
aposematic signals
= bright + conspicuous
signals dangerous/ unpleasant traits
warning signals
= unusual behaviour that targets predator
e.g. stotting in Thompson’s gazelle
stotting in Thompson’s gazelles
could be amplified by body stripe
signals they’re agile and hard to catch
BUT more attention seeking
predation
- alarm calls
high pitched short call
targets same species or different species
may be specific to predator
hard for predator to detect emitting individual (frequency outside predator’s hearing range)
mating
- examples
frog calls
whale song
emitted by males
may derive from non-mating signals
bird song
- what is it?
- used in 2 contexts
v variable behaviour between different songbird species
e.g. simple song in great tit + complex in blackbirds
mate choice
territorial defence
bird song
- song learning
learnt in all songbird species
- from adult males singing around nest
learning + production coordinated by group of brain nuclei
spiders
- sexual imprinting
- importance of recognising mate
young learn the features of a desirable mate from parent
sex or death issue
all or nothing
spiders
- reproductive system
males have specialised secondary sexual organ that transfer sperm
females have specialised openings that receive sperm
spiders
- experiment
subadult females allowed to interact with adult males with black or brown forelegs
-> as female adults they copulated more often with familiar coloured males
spiders
- bad quality males preyed upon
preyed upon less
-> signal less
-> cannot attract females effectively
(courting)
= reduced latency to death
begging
- why do baby birds beg so loudly?
H1: begging is honest signal
H2: competition among siblings
begging in birds
- H1 (honest signal)
hungry chick
- > begs lots
- > revives a lot of food
BUT cost to being hungry
-> being loud gets you killed
begging in birds
- H2 (sibiling competition)
more food goes to one that begs more
-> steals more food from sibling
relatedness between siblings influences begging
- more distantly related, bigger difference in volume
threats
- fighting vs threats
- what are threat postures?
fighting = costly + injures contestants
selection favours conflict resolution as less expensive
- i.e. threats + assessing strength using threat postures
displaying weaponry and making an animal look bigger
threats
- examples
croaking in European toads
= honest signal of body size
claw waiving in crayfish
= NOT honest signal
- no relationship between claw size + winning contest (quality of male)
deception
- example
bright spots + stripes on N. pilipes spider attracts prey to predator at night
- NOT honest
(elicits behaviour responder doesn’t expect)
how can sensory exploration + deception evolve?
- signaller exploits sensory system of receiver
2. eavesdropping
signaller exploits sensory system of receiver
- cuckoo example
- illegitimate…?
cuckoos lay eggs in songbird nests
cuckoo eggs hatch
-> kick host species eggs out nest
cuckoo chick imitates begging calls of whole brood of reed warbler chicks
illegitimate signaller
signaller exploits sensory system of receiver
- plant examples
- illegitimate…?
elbow orchid
- imitates female wasps to attract male wasps
- > males can carry pollen
sundew
- has sticky dew resembling sugary fluid
to attract insects
-> insects trapped + digested
illegitimate signaller
signaller exploits sensory system of receiver
- firefly example
- illegitimate…?
firefly males attract females by pulsing light signals
predatory firefly females approach signalling males + pretend to be normal firefly females
predatory female fireflies eat normal male fireflies
illegitimate signalling and receiving
eavesdropping
- bats and frogs example
- illegitimate
Tungara frogs attract females by calling
- louder attracts more
bats prey on frogs
honest signalling but illegitimate receiver
