Signals + Communication Flashcards
What are signals in communication?
Signals are manipulative and are favoured by natural selection for their effectiveness, despite being costly to produce.
What factors influence the effectiveness of signals?
Signals must be conspicuous, contain alerting components, be repetitive/redundant, and be species-specific.
What does it mean for a signal to be conspicuous?
A signal is conspicuous if it stands out against the background.
What are alerting components in signals?
Alerting components warn others that information will be transmitted.
Why are signals repetitive or redundant?
Repetitive or redundant signals help the receiver interpret the signal.
What does species-specific mean in the context of signals?
Species-specific signals enhance detection and response, with different species having different colours.
What is an example of a conspicuous signal in Ande lizards?
The extended brightly coloured throat flap is a conspicuous signal.
What alerting component do Ande lizards use?
They flick their tail before releasing their throat colour.
What is a repetitive signal observed in Ande lizards?
Head bobbing movements are a repetitive signal.
What are honest signals?
Honest signals include indices and handicaps.
What is an index in signaling?
An index is a signal that can’t be faked, with intensity casually related to the quality of the signaller.
What is a handicap in signaling?
A handicap is a costly signal to fake, ensuring reliability due to its cost of production or consequences.
What correlates with the quality of call in glass frogs?
The size of the male
Small males can’t produce low frequency sound.
What is Zahavi’s Handicap Principle?
Reliability is maintained by the cost of signaling; only animals who can afford the cost can produce signals.
Example: Peacocks have costly traits indicating good diet and no parasites.
What do elaborate ornaments often correlate with?
Health and vitality.
What is the Hamilton-Zuk Hypothesis?
Elaborate traits correlate with resistance to parasites; males with high parasite loads can’t invest in elaborate traits.
What does the Nutritional Stress Hypothesis suggest?
Elaborate traits develop early in life, indicating environmental conditions and genetic quality of parents.
Example: Chick mass correlates with song complexity in great reed warblers.
What does the honeybee waggle dance communicate?
Distance and direction of flowers.
What is the pattern of the honeybee waggle dance?
A figure of 8 pattern.
What does the length of the straight line part of the honeybee dance indicate?
Distance to the nectar source.
What does the direction of the line in the honeybee dance indicate?
The direction of the nectar source relative to the sun.
What are the consequences of dishonest signaling?
Benefits the sender and costs the receiver.
What vulnerabilities does signaling create in animals?
It makes them vulnerable to deceivers and eavesdroppers, leading to coevolutionary arms races.
