Decoding Calls of the Wild
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NEWSLETTER Animal Behavior Society
NEWSLETTER Vol. 41, No.1 Animal Behavior February, 1996 Society A quarterly publication Susan A. Foster, Secretary Cristin Hulslander, Editorial Assistant Department of Biology, Clark University, 950 Main St., Worcester, MA 01610 USA DO YOU KNOW SCIENCE WRITERS? RESULTS OF THE 1995 ABS ELECTIONS The ABS Public Affairs Committee is interested in making contacts with science writers, reporters, or 155 ballots were cast in the 1995 election. This is editors in the national or local news media (NPR, Science News, Discovery, NY Times, etc.) who we J less than 5% of the membership. The following officers were elected: can invite to Animal Behavior meetings and send press releases of exciting research in animal behavior. Second President-Elect: Meredith West The Committee promises to treat all contacts with Secretary: Susan A. Foster the utmost respect and will not abuse the Member-At-Large: Ken Yasukawa relationship. Please forward names, addresses, and other pertinent information, including special areas of Representative, USECC, and delegate, IEC interest to the writer to: Council: Deborah M. Gordon Dr. Linda S. Rayor, Dept. Entomology, Cornell Representative, USECC, and alternate, IEC University, Ithaca, NY 14853, email: Council: Jerry F. Downhower Isrl @comell.edu. Congratulations to the new officers and representatives and thanks to all who ran for office. SYMPOSIA AND INVITED PAPER The new officers will begin their terms at the end of SESSION PROPOSALS the Annual Meeting in August 1996. 1997 ANNUAL MEETING Proposals for symposia and invited paper sessions to be held at the 1997 annual ABS meeting in College CALL FOR RESOLUTIONS Park, Maryland are invited. -
Prairie Dog Alarm Calls Encode Labels About Predator Colors
Anim Cogn DOI 10.1007/s10071-008-0203-y ORIGINAL PAPER Prairie dog alarm calls encode labels about predator colors C. N. SlobodchikoV · Andrea Paseka · Jennifer L. Verdolin Received: 8 July 2008 / Revised: 29 November 2008 / Accepted: 9 December 2008 © Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract Some animals have the cognitive capacity to Keywords Gunnison’s prairie dogs · diVerentiate between diVerent species of predators and gen- Referential communication · Alarm calls erate diVerent alarm calls in response. However, the pres- ence of any addition information that might be encoded into alarm calls has been largely unexplored. In the present Introduction study, three similar-sized human females walked through a Gunnison’s prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) colony wear- An increasing body of evidence suggests that some animals ing each of three diVerent-colored shirts: blue, green, and have referential communication, in which they can incorpo- yellow. We recorded the alarm calls and used discriminant rate information into their vocalizations or signals about an function analysis to assess whether the calls for the diVer- object or event that is external to the animal (Evans 1997). ent-colored shirts were signiWcantly diVerent. The results This kind of communication has sometimes been termed showed that the alarm calls for the blue and the yellow functional reference (Evans et al. 1993; Evans 1997; Evans shirts were signiWcantly diVerent, but the green shirt calls and Evans 1999) because of the diYculty of determining were not signiWcantly diVerent from the calls for the yellow the meaning of the actual information that is encoded in the shirt. The colors that were detected, with corresponding signal. -
NEWSLETTER Animal Behavior Society
NEWSLETTER Vol. 40, No.4 Animal Behavior November, 1995 Society A quarterly publication Susan A. Foster, Secretary Cristin Hulslander, Editorial Assistant Department of Biology, Clark University, 950 Main St., Worcester, MA 01610 USA not at ABS. What I think we may be witnessing in VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!! the next decade is a true integration of approaches 1995 ABS ELECTIONS involving proximate and ultimate causation of animaJ behavior. This should be an exciting time, for both Only a smaJl percentage of ABS members vote in the the younger scientists who are just entering our field annual election. This is not a good showing for an and those of us who have been a part of the discipline organization that takes pride in its democratic style. for 25 years or more. Election information and the baJlot are enclosed. At our 1995 Annual Meeting, the Executive Committee adopted a proposal establishing a new Service Award. Up to three such awards can be made in any given year. The proposaJ for these awards grew out of the need to have a form of recognition for MESSAGE FROM THE ABS PRESIDENT, those individuals who provide the ABS with LEE DRICKAMER outstanding and extended service, but who might not be considered for election as a Fellow. The latter It has become customary for the ABS President to honor is intended to recognize contributions in terms pen a few remarks to the membership at mid-year. I of research and scholarship. I hope that ABS members am happy to do so and prefer this vehicle over some will look for the announcement of these new ABS long-winded speech at our banquet at the Annual Service Awards in the Newsletter and that you will Meeting. -
A DNA Fingerprint Analysis
WellBeing International WBI Studies Repository Spring 1996 Social assemblages and mating relationships in prairie dogs: a DNA fingerprint analysis Steven E. Travis Northern Arizona University Con Slobodchikoff Northern Arizona University Paul Kefan Northern Arizona University Follow this and additional works at: https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/repbeh Part of the Animal Studies Commons, Behavior and Ethology Commons, and the Comparative Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Steven E. Travis, C. N. Slobodchikoff, Paul Kefan, Social assemblages and mating relationships in prairie dogs: a DNA fingerprint analysis, Behavioral Ecology, Volume 7, Issue 1, Spring 1996, Pages 95–100, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/7.1.95 This material is brought to you for free and open access by WellBeing International. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of the WBI Studies Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Behavioral Ecology Vol. 7 No. 1: 95-100 Social assemblages and mating relationships in prairie dogs: a DNA fingerprint analysis Steven E. Travis, C. N. Slobodchikoff, and Paul Kefan Department of Biological Sciences, Box 5640, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5640, USA Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article-abstract/7/1/95/222101 by guest on 23 September 2019 Mating system characterizations have been hindered by difficulties in accurately assigning parentage to offspring. We investigated the relationship between social assemblages and mating relationships in a territorial harem polygynous mammal, the Gunnison's prairie dog, using a combination of behavioral and molecular analyses. We demonstrate multiple paternity and an extraordinarily high incidence of extraterritorial fertilizations (i.e., 61% of all progeny), in combination with the existence of female kin groups. -
Perceptual Specificity in the Alarm Calls of Gunnison's Prairie Dogs
Behavioural Processes 73 (2006) 29–35 Perceptual specificity in the alarm calls of Gunnison’s prairie dogs Judith Kiriazis 1, C.N. Slobodchikoff ∗ Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA Received 20 August 2005; received in revised form 20 January 2006; accepted 30 January 2006 Abstract Gunnison’s prairie dogs have a complex alarm communication system. We show that the escape responses of prairie dogs to naturally occurring live predators differed depending upon the species of predator. We also show that playbacks of alarm calls that were elicited originally by the live predators produced the same escape responses as the live predators themselves. The escape responses fell into two qualitatively different categories: running to the burrow and diving inside for hawks and humans, and standing upright outside the burrow for coyotes and dogs. Within these two categories there were differences in response. For hawks, only the prairie dogs that were in the direct flight path of a stooping red-tailed hawk ran to their burrows and dove inside, while for humans and human alarm call playbacks there was a colony-wide running to the burrows and diving inside. For coyotes and coyote alarm call playbacks there was a colony-wide running to the burrows and standing alert at the burrow rims, while for domestic dogs and playbacks of alarm calls for domestic dogs the prairie dogs assumed an alert posture wherever they were feeding, but did not run to their burrows. These responses to both the live predators and to predator-elicited alarm calls suggest that the alarm calls of Gunnison’s prairie dogs contain meaningful referential information about the categories of predators that approach a colony of prairie dogs. -
Awareness, Emotions, and Heart by Dr. Marc Bekoff
\\server05\productn\L\LCA\9-1\LCA110.txt unknown Seq: 1 12-MAY-03 12:32 A REVIEW OF MINDING ANIMALS: AWARENESS, EMOTIONS, AND HEART BY DR. MARC BEKOFF By Michael Tobias* Dr. Marc Bekoff’s book, Minding Animals: Awareness, Emotions, and Heart,1 like much of his work, is a tantalizing and ambitious over- view of animal rights and liberation, approaching the subject through the lens of ethological data, anecdote, and philosophy. For more than three decades, Bekoff, who recently coined the expression “deep ethol- ogy,”2 has been observing a variety of species at close quarters, from Adelie penguins to coyotes to wolves. His tent sites have ranged from the Western Peninsula of the Antarctic to Yellowstone to Boulder, Col- orado, where he is a professor. Bekoff expects the best from humanity and asks scientists and the public to endorse a code of ethics that rec- ognizes the cognitive and emotional mysteries of all other life forms. It is a simple, if utopian, plea against global ecological mayhem, animal cruelty, and runaway consumerism—but what distinguishes his ap- proach in this book is the overwhelming evidence he elicits to support his goals. Bekoff left a graduate program in neurobiology at medical school because he refused to kill animals as part of the curriculum. Paul Ehr- lich refers to the dilemma as the “world of wounds” for students enter- ing the study of ecology with a dream of healing the world.3 In the years since then, Bekoff has campaigned to raise awareness in the sci- entific world to the possibility of healing—to understand there is a “deep science” merging traditional disciplines, induction, and the old style of intrusive experiments with a new paradigm of “aesthetic and sentient experiences.” His book is a feast of convincing arguments and analogies that leaves no doubt about the impending revolution in the scientific, legal, and consumer realms regarding our treatment of other species. -
Uncorrected Proof
Behavioural Processes xxx (2006) xxx–xxx 3 Perceptual specificity in the alarm calls of Gunnison’s prairie dogs 1 ∗ 4 Judith Kiriazis , C.N. Slobodchikoff 5 Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA Received 20 August 2005; received in revised form 20 January 2006; accepted 30 January 2006 6 7 Abstract 8 Gunnison’s prairie dogs have a complex alarm communication system. We show that the escape responses of prairie dogs to naturally occurring 9 live predators differed depending upon the species of predator. We also show that playbacks of alarm calls that were elicited originally by the live 10 predators produced the same escape responses as the live predators themselves. The escape responses fell into two qualitatively different categories: 11 running to the burrow and diving inside for hawks and humans, and standing upright outside the burrow for coyotes and dogs. Within these two 12 categories there were differences in response. For hawks, only the prairie dogs that were in the direct flight path of a stooping red-tailed hawk ran 13 to their burrows and dove inside, while for humans and human alarm call playbacks there was a colony-wide running to the burrows and diving 14 inside. For coyotes and coyote alarm call playbacks there was a colony-wide running to the burrows and standing alert at the burrow rims, while 15 for domestic dogs and playbacks of alarm calls for domestic dogs the prairie dogs assumed an alert posture wherever they were feeding, but did 16 not run to their burrows. These responses to both the live predators and to predator-elicited alarm calls suggest that the alarm calls of Gunnison’s 17 prairie dogs contain meaningful referential information about the categories of predators that approach a colony of prairie dogs. -
Report from the Burrow Forecast of the Prairie Dog
Report from the Burrow Forecast of the Prairie Dog A Report from WildEarth Guardians By Taylor Jones February 2, 2011 MISSION STATEMENT WILDEARTH GUARDIANS protects and restores the wildlife, wild places and wild rivers of the American West. Inquiries about this report and WILDEARTH GUARDIANS’ work can be made directly to: Taylor Jones, WILDEARTH GUARDIANS 1536 Wynkoop St., Suite 301 Denver, CO, 80202 303-573-4898 [email protected] Cartography: Kurt Menke, Bird’s Eye View GIS Front and back cover photos: Rich Reading Thank you to the state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations who provided information for this report and the reviewers who provided helpful feedback. Outside Reviewers: Kristy Bly, Lauren McCain, Richard P. Reading, Con Slobodchikoff (“Prairie Dog Communication” section only), Lindsey Sterling-Krank. Review does not constitute an endorsement of the 2011 Report from the Burrow. © WILDEARTH GUARDIANS. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be used in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, WILDEARTH GUARDIANS, except in the case of brief quotations. Report from the Burrow 2011 Report from the Burrow 2011: Forecast of the Prairie Dog An expansive redefinition of the human relationship to nature requires not only an open international, national, state, county, and community-wide dialog, it also requires each human being, in their own way, to reexamine and redefine their physical and emotional relationship to non-human entities. –Slobodchikoff et al. 2009, p. 209 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. –Mahatma Gandhi 2010 was a year of intense and often acrimonious political debates. -
Prairie Dog” and “Gunnison's”
GUNNISON’S PRAIRIE DOG Cynomys gunnisoni In the Office of Endangered Species U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service United States Department of Interior Petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to List the Gunnison’s Prairie Dog as an Endangered or Threatened Species Under the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et Seq. (1973 as amended), and to Designate Critical Habitat Primary Petitioner Forest Guardians 312 Montezuma Ave. Suite A Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 (505) 988-9126 23 February 2004 Gunnison’s prairie dog photo © Jess Alford Petition Prepared by: Nicole J. Rosmarino, Ph.D. With Assistance from: Paula Martin Additional Petitioners: Scientists & Academics 1. Dr. Con Slobodchikoff (biologist with expertise in Gunnison’s prairie dog, professor) 2. Ana Davidson (biologist with expertise in Gunnison’s prairie dog) 3. Jennifer Verdolin (biologist with expertise in Gunnison’s prairie dog) 4. Dr. Jean-Luc Cartron (biologist, with expertise in Gunnison’s prairie dog ecosystem) 5. Dr. Paul J. Polechla Jr. (biologist, with expertise in Gunnison’s prairie dog ecosystem) 6. Paula Martin (biologist) 7. Glenn Harper (biologist) 8. Dr. Wayne Bundy (geologist; president of Santa Fe Geological Society) 9. Dr. Linda Wiener (entomologist) 10. David Lamkin (retired mechanical engineering professor) 11. Dr. Charles Ervin (psychologist; animal behaviorist) 12. Greg Litus (horticulturalist) 13. Hollace L. Bristol (Ph.D. candidate in Education and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University) 14. Marcus Hamilton (Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology, University of New Mexico) Different Walks of Life Realtors & Homebuilders 15. Bennett Hammer (Realtor in New Mexico) 16. Tish Bogan-Ozmun (Realtor in Arizona) 17. -
Rhyme, Reason, and Animal Rights: Elizabeth Costello’S Regressive View of Animal Consciousness and Its Implications for Animal Liberation Norm Phelps1
Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume VI, Issue 1, 2008 Rhyme, Reason, and Animal Rights: Elizabeth Costello’s Regressive View of Animal Consciousness and its Implications for Animal Liberation Norm Phelps1 Abstract Novelist J. M. Coetzee is widely credited with “shifting the species boundary” (Mason 129) in his fiction to acknowledge the personhood of at least some nonhuman animals, thereby advancing the cause of animal protection, which he is known to support in his personal life (Satya). In this article, I will argue that in Elizabeth Costello Coetzee treats animals as alien and unknowable because he believes, contrary to a rapidly growing body of evidence, that they lack language. Building on this belief, he uses animals instrumentally to argue for the superiority of imagination to reason. And finally, because of his insistence on the priority of the imagination over reason, he would place animals solely at the mercy of human good will and leave them unprotected by the kinds of laws that protect human beings. Background From antiquity to the present, our most acclaimed thinkers and artists have endeavored to erect and defend what John Wesley called “the barrier between men and brutes, the line which they cannot pass.” (Wesley) This “great wall of humanity”—as it might be dubbed—is designed to maintain the uniqueness of human beings and our superiority to all other species. Over the years, the wall has assumed various forms, as successive scientific discoveries made earlier versions impossible to sustain. “[F]irst, it was possession of a soul, then „reason,‟ then tool use, then tool making, then altruism, then language, then the production of linguistic novelty, and so on . -
Lessons from Animal Sentience: Towards a New Humanity Jonathan Balcombe
Volume 1 Nature's Humans Article 5 2016 Lessons from Animal Sentience: Towards a New Humanity Jonathan Balcombe Follow this and additional works at: https://encompass.eku.edu/tcj Part of the Animal Studies Commons, and the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Balcombe, Jonathan (2016) "Lessons from Animal Sentience: Towards a New Humanity," The Chautauqua Journal: Vol. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://encompass.eku.edu/tcj/vol1/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Encompass. It has been accepted for inclusion in The hC autauqua Journal by an authorized editor of Encompass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Balcombe: Lessons from Animal Sentience JONATHAN BALCOMBE LESSONS FROM ANIMAL SENTIENCE: TOWARDS A NEW HUMANITY Introduction – Moral Progress, and a Paradox Many years before I became a professional biologist, as a boy of about 9, I used to explore the wet ditches on each side of the railroad tracks that bordered the lakes and bays at the summer camp I went to north of Toronto, Canada. I was drawn to the many frogs and dragonflies there, and if it was a particularly good day I’d find a garter snake. One day, a scruffy-looking man ambled along the tracks. In one hand he held a heavy cloth sack and a dipping net on the end of a pole. In the other he held a leopard frog. He asked me to hold the frog. I took the frog while he waded into the ditch to catch another one. I didn’t know why he was catching frogs, but I didn’t like their prospects. -
Barking in Domestic Dogs: Context Specificity and Individual Identification
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 2004, 68, 343e355 doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.07.016 Barking in domestic dogs: context specificity and individual identification SOPHIA YIN* &BRENDAMCCOWAN† *Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis yDepartment of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis (Received 5 July 2002; initial acceptance 28 October 2002; final acceptance 24 July 2003; MS. number: A9405R2) In this study we sought to determine whether dog barks could be divided into subtypes based on context. We recorded barking from 10 adult dogs, Canis familiaris, of six breeds in three different test situations: (1) a disturbance situation in which a stranger rang the doorbell, (2) an isolation situation in which the dog was locked outside or in a room isolated from its owner and (3) a play situation in which either two dogs or a human and a dog played together. We analysed spectrograms of 4672 barks using macros that took 60 sequential frequency measurements and 60 sequential amplitude measurements along the length of the call. Statistical analyses revealed that barks are graded vocalizations that range from harsh, low-frequency, unmodulated calls to harmonically rich, higher-frequency, modulated calls. The harsh, low-frequency, unmodulated barks were more commonly given in the disturbance situation, and the more tonal, higher- pitch, modulated barks were more commonly given in the isolation and play situations. Disturbance barks were also longer in duration with more rapid repetition than the barks given in other contexts. Discriminant analysis revealed that dog barks can be divided into different subtypes based on context even within individual dogs, and that dogs can be identified by their bark spectrograms despite the context of the bark.