Behaviour 146, 7 (May 2009)
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/beh/2009/00000146/00000007
Price, T, K Arnold, K Zuberbuehler & S Semple (2009) Pyow but not hack calls
of the male putty-nosed monkey (Cercopithcus nictitans) convey information
about caller identity. Behaviour 146: 871-888.
Kapusta, J & GD Sales (2009) Male-female interactions and ultrasonic
vocalization in three sympatric species of voles during conspecific and
heterospecific encounters. Behaviour 146: 939-962.
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Abstracts
Price, T, K Arnold, K Zuberbuehler & S Semple (2009) Pyow but not hack calls
of the male putty-nosed monkey (Cercopithcus nictitans) convey information
about caller identity. Behaviour 146: 871-888.
Individual differences within the acoustic structure of vocalisations have
the potential to inform signal receivers about the identity of the caller.
Such differences can often be explained by morphological differences of the
signaller's sound production apparatus. Natural selection may have favoured
individual variation within call types, especially if identity cues enhance
call function. In addition, animals may modify their vocalisations such that
they sound more similar to, or more distinct from those of neighbouring
conspecifics. We recorded pyow and hack vocalisations from five recognised
male putty-nosed monkeys (Cercopithecus nictitans) in Gashaka Gumti National
Park, Nigeria. We analysed the temporal and spectral features of both call
types to investigate whether the calls contained identity cues, and whether
calls of neighbouring males were less or more different in their acoustic
structure than expected by chance. More parameters were found to vary
significantly between individuals within pyows than hacks, and whilst pyows
could be correctly assigned to individual callers more often than would have
been expected by chance, hacks could not. We found no relation between
geographic distance and acoustic similarity of pyows and hacks.
Kapusta, J & GD Sales (2009) Male-female interactions and ultrasonic
vocalization in three sympatric species of voles during conspecific and
heterospecific encounters. Behaviour 146: 939-962.
Using ultrasonic vocalization, the present study examined the behaviour of
three sympatrically living species of voles: common voles, field voles and
bank voles during heterosexual encounters both within and between species.
Voles were trapped in south-eastern Poland and their behaviour and
vocalization investigated using 10-min open field tests. Conspecific
heterosexual pairs of all three species of voles presented high social
activity but the kind of behaviour was different. Bank vole male-female
interactions were more agonistic than those of common voles and of field
voles as seen in the number of aggressive approaches and latency to the
first attack. Common voles and field voles emitted significantly more
ultrasounds and spent longer time on the production of ultrasonic calls than
bank voles. The duration of sounds was similar but the frequency of calls
emitted by field voles was higher than those of common voles and bank voles.
Voles in heterospecific encounters of male with female showed shorter
duration of sniffing and emitted very few ultrasounds. The current work has
shown that ultrasounds are part of male-female behaviour in common voles,
field voles and bank voles and could play a significant role in vole
communication.
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