I am currently in the process of constructing a phylogeny of the
alarm calls of the five species of prairie dogs in North America. My
students and I have recorded the alarm calls given to a human by all the
five species of prairie dogs, and now I would like to do a cladistic
analysis of our data. For the cladistic analysis, I need an outgroup data
point, an alarm call for a human from a non-prairie dog animal that is
relatively closely related to prairie dogs. The outgroup serves as a
reference point against which the prairie dog species can be compared in
the cladistic analysis program that I am using.
Other ground squirrels in the genus Spermophilus (this group
includes the rock squirrel, the Columbian ground squirrel, the California
ground squirrel, the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, the golden-mantled
g.s., the Richardson's g.s., the Belding's g.s., among others) would be
perfect as an outgroup. We need a call given for a human because we know
that prairie dogs have different alarm calls to different predators such as
humans, dogs, coyotes, and hawks, and it is possible that other ground
squirrels might also have such fine-scaled distinctions in their calls.
Does anyone have an alarm call from any of the ground squirrel
species, that they know has been given in response to a human? And if you
have such an alarm call, would you be willing to send me the call and have
me use it in my cladistic analysis?
Thanks!
Con Slobodchikoff
Dr. C. N. Slobodchikoff
Professor of Biology
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA
Phone: 928-523-7231
Fax: 928-523-7500
Web Page: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~cns3
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