c




‘| • 
Y| 

Y| 6 
Y| M



‘| {
 
Y| M  
Y| M 


 
Y| × 


| |
3



 
I INTRODUCTION

Animal Communication, interaction between animals in which information transmitted from one
animal or group of animals affects the behavior of other animals. Animals typically exchange
information using a signal, such as facial expression, sound, or touch. Communication between
animals helps them coordinate the vital functions of their lives²namely, gathering food and
hunting, staking out territory, mating, caring for young, and defending themselves.

Most commonly, animal communication is intraspecific (occurring between animals of the same
species). Mating signals are perhaps the most important intraspecific communication, since
animals must be able to identify and attract a potential mate in order to reproduce. The loud roar
of a male elephant seal, for example, directs females where to come ashore for breeding.
Intraspecific communication also helps distinguish individuals in a particular animal group. Mother
gulls learn to recognize the individual calls of their own chicks so that they can quickly find their
babies in densely populated gull colonies.

Communication can also be interspecific, occurring between different animal species. Many animals
who share habitats learn to use signals from other species as warnings for approaching danger.
Langurs (tree-living monkeys of Asia and East India) respond to the alarm cries or flights of
peacocks and deer. Similarly, in Africa, grazing animals such as wildebeests and waterbucks pay
close attention to the keen-eared zebra. If a nearby zebra suddenly jumps up and runs, the other
animals follow to escape a common predator.

II INFLUENCES ON COMMUNICATION

The higher an animal¶s position on the evolutionary scale, the more complex its sense organs and
the more elaborate its apparatus for producing communication signals. A few animals, notably the
primates, transmit information by multiple signals, such as a combination of gestures, facial
expressions, and sounds. This use of multiple signals makes possible a more extensive vocabulary
for communicating, which in turn enables animals to transmit more complex information.

Physical characteristics play a strong role in determining the types of messages that are
transmitted or received. Primates, who have superior vision, rely heavily on visual signals. In
contrast, insects see only vague images, so they concentrate more on chemical and tactile
messages. Scent organs in most insects¶ antennae and taste organs in their feet help them use
these senses very effectively. Animals whose means of movement leaves no appendagesfree for
signaling must develop other ways of communicating. Scientists believe, for instance, that birds
developed their complex language of song along with the evolution of flight: with their wings
occupied with flying, birds learned to rely primarily on sound rather than body movement for
communication.

Communication also varies according to habitat, since where an animal lives influences how
information travels between sender and receiver. For example, fish, marine mammals, and aquatic
invertebrates all depend on the transmitting capacity of water for communication. Clams,
barnacles, and similar invertebrates communicate by opening and snapping shut their shells, and
the resulting small sounds are amplified considerably in water. Bird species that live in thickly
wooded habitats, where trees impede vision, rely primarily on sound signals to contact other birds.
In contrast, birds living where vegetation is sparse are more likely to depend on visual signals,
including colorful plumage that indicates a bird¶s age or gender.

Social patterns have significant impact on communication as well. Solitary birds, having no one
else with whom to communicate, may sing just one song over and over, whereas flocking birds,
such as geese, use a wide array of calls. These calls communicate distinct messages to other
members of the flock, from ³Danger!´ and ³All clear!´ to calls indicating that food is near or that
the flock is about to take flight. Social patterns have a particularly strong influence on
communication habits in primates. For this reason, researchers such as British ethologist Jane
Goodall have been able to discover complex social structures among chimpanzees and other
primates by documenting and analyzing communication transactions.

III INNATE OR LEARNED?

Most animal behaviorists today believe that two major influences determine animal behavior,
including communication. One influence is innate, or programmed by genes; the other is learned,
or gained by experience. Either genes or experience can take a greater role, depending on the
species and the behavior in question.

Animal communication that is primarily innate includes signaling based on fixed action patterns.
Fixed action patterns are genetically encoded and occur spontaneously when the animal is
presented with an environmental cue, or sign stimulus, which acts as a trigger. Researchers have
observed a vivid example of this behavior in the male stickleback fish, who flaunts his flame-red
belly in fighting postures when another male invades his territory at mating time. A male
stickleback will produce the same postures when confronted with models of fish showing bright red
undersides. These postures are fixed action patterns because the red coloring²the sign stimulus²
provokes identical behavior in all male sticklebacks.

In contrast, communication as learned behavior is clearly demonstrated in birds, whose songs are
often influenced by other birds. The white-crowned sparrow, for example, has a rudimentary song
coded in its genes but modifies the song to match that of other white-crowned sparrows living
nearby. Researchers have found that young white-crowned sparrows living in isolation the first few
months of their lives never develop their songs past the rudimentary version. This critical period²
the time where early learning must take place²is a common feature of learned behavior in
animals.

IV COMMUNICATION BY VISUAL DISPLAY

Visual displays include a rich array of facial expressions, body movements, coloration, and physical
shapes, such as the male peacock¶s fanned tail. Visual communication is easy to produce,
instantaneous, and can be modified to carry various types of information. For example, a dog may
raise its hackles (long, erectile hairs on the back of its neck) in warning when a potential enemy
approaches and then lower them if the approaching animal or human appears friendly.

Visual displays can be momentary, such as raised hackles; cyclical, such as the reddened rump of
a female chimpanzee that signals readiness for mating; or permanent, as evident in the scarlet
and purple facial markings of a male mandrill that enhance his facial expressions. They can be as
simple as a male stickleback¶s reddened belly, or as complex as a mountain gorilla¶s dominance
ritual, which includes rising to a standing position, chest-slapping, tipping the head to one side,
and tearing up and tossing vegetation.

Different aspects of an animal¶s body may be used in visual display, depending on both individual
anatomy and environment. Most reptiles, for instance, have body parts that inflate (the flared neck
skin, or hood, of the cobra) or vibrate (the tail of the rattlesnake) to show aggression. Animals
living on land, including humans and other primates, rely primarily on the head and face for
producing visual displays. Fish, in contrast, use their gills and fins. Some structures used for visual
display serve additional functions as well. Antlers of male deer are used both for display²signaling
their gender and dominance²and for fighting other males.

Visual communication is used to some extent by nearly all animals, although those with limited
vision²for example, cave-dwelling bats²do not depend primarily on this sense. Visual signals
have some limitations, as they generally require light and an unimpeded view to be seen. An
exception is the display of fireflies, who generate their own pulsating light to attract mates in the
darkness.

V COMMUNICATION BY SOUND

Sound signals are communicated by vibrational waves produced by one animal, or group of
animals, and received by others. Unlike visual signals, sound signals travel easily through
darkness, dense vegetation, fog, and even water. Sound signals can also travel significantly
farther than visual ones. Elephants often make low-frequency rumblings that resonate over long
distances and can be heard by other elephants up to 3 km (2 mi) away.

In addition to the complex vocalizations of primates, including humans, sound signals are used
most notably by birds, insects, and marine mammals. One bird, the African honey guide, produces
loud calls to persuade nearby humans to follow it to bee trees containing beeswax, its favorite
food. Once the humans have gathered the honey, the honey guide can easily reach the remaining
wax.

Insects generally communicate with sound by stridulation, (the rapid vibration or rubbing of one
body part over another, commonly, wings or legs). This way of making sound does not allow for a
wide range of pitch, so insects vary their messages by changing the rate or intensity of their
sounds. A male cricket will typically quicken his chirps²produced by rubbing his forelegs
together²to warn off a competitor and speed up the chirps even more when courting a female.
Insects have very limited hearing; so rather than listening, they use vibration sensors on their
antennae to receive incoming sounds.
Sound signals often travel faster and farther underwater than on land. Marine mammals such as
humpback whales broadcast rich vocalizations that can be detected hundreds of miles away.
Scientists believe these whale songs serve a territorial or mating purpose. The bottlenose dolphin
is the champion of creative sound signals, producing a wide spectrum of noises described as
moans, squeaks, whines, barks, raspings, chirps, and grunts. The dolphin makes these varied
sounds by blowing air through the nasal passage and the blowhole and maneuvering the
tonguelike structures located in both passages.

VI COMMUNICATION BY TOUCH

Communication that is tactile, or transmitted by touch, is especially important in social animals,

including insects. Members of an ant colony, for example, almost constantly lick and nuzzle each
other; these activities strengthen the ants¶ social bonds.

Tactile communication in bees has particularly interested researchers because of its surprising
complexity. When a foraging bee discovers a new food source, it returns to the hive and performs
a detailed dance, a phenomenon first interpreted by Austrian zoologist Karl von Frisch. Information
is communicated primarily by physical contact as hive mates follow and touch the dancing bee.
The orientation and speed of the dance, as well as the size of the area covered by the dancer, tell
the other bees precisely the distance to and location of the food.

Touch and bodily contact are used most extensively by primates, particularly baboons, gibbons,
and chimpanzees. These animals frequently seize each other in warm embraces and also may
lightly touch, push, nibble, or actually kiss each other. Grooming (the act of animals cleaning each
other) is a more structured form of tactile communication that helps primates establish social
dominance and strengthen emotional bonds. The effectiveness of tactile communication is limited
by distance²one animal must be touching another in order to convey information. However,
tactile communication can be done in total darkness or silence.

VII COMMUNICATION BY CHEMICALS

Chemical signals are probably the oldest form of communication among animals and the most
widely used form across species as well. Sensed by taste or smell, these signals most likely
evolved from hormones²chemicals that carry information between cells.

Chemical signals sent and received by individuals of the same species are called pheromones.
Pheromones are quite powerful: a few pheromone molecules released into the air or water through
urine, sweat, or other bodily secretions are enough to influence another animal's behavior. Unlike
visual, sound, or tactile signals, pheromones can persist in the environment for a long time. This is
important for many cat species, for instance, because females often release pheromones signaling
fertility without knowing when the males will receive them. Because of their long duration,
however, pheromones are not effective carriers for complex or changing messages. Moreover,
because they are emitted into air or water, the direction of these signals is determined more by air
or water currents than by the sender. Rain and wind can also greatly weaken the effectiveness of
pheromones.
Chemical communication is a powerful tool, particularly for ensuring reproduction, marking
territory, and alerting prey against predators. A male giraffe, for instance, determines the best
time to mate by nudging the female until she urinates and then checking the odor to determine if
she is fertile. Many land mammals²from wolves to domesticated cats²use pheromones released
by specialized glands to claim an area as their own. Other uses of pheromone signals include trail
marking by ants, which enables other colony members to find food.

Chemical signals are rarest among primates, whose senses of smell and taste are relatively weak.
Nevertheless, they occur²even among humans. Women of childbearing age who live or work
together, for example, frequently menstruate on the same cycle. This is an unconscious response
to pheromones present in the sweat glands, released and received by women in close proximity.
The purpose of this pheromone signaling is unknown, but scientists speculate that it had a function
in early humans that is no longer relevant in modern culture.

VIII EVOLUTION OF COMMUNICATION

Communication displays evolve within a species by the process of ritualization, a term coined by
Dutch zoologist Nikolaas Tinbergen. Ritualization is a process by which aspects of spontaneous
animal behavior become formalized into repetitive, customary acts. For ritualization to occur, a
signal must benefit both the animal sending it and the animal receiving it. In such a case, natural
selection works to increase the display's effectiveness, making it easier to be seen, heard, or
otherwise sensed. Through ritualization, behaviors and features often lose their original functions
and become useful primarily for social communication.

Communication displays that may become ritualized are thought to arise from three sources:
autonomic responses, intention movements, and displacement behaviors. Autonomic responses,
reflex behaviors controlled automatically and unconsciously by an animal's nervous system, are an
ideal source of communicative displays. Squinting the eyes and pushing the ears back, originally
performed for eye and ear protection, are autonomic responses that have been ritualized into
communication displays of threat in many species. These displays effectively warn other animals of
the sender¶s emotional state.

Displays also evolve from intention movements, activities signaling the initial part of an action.
Grooming feathers, flexing legs, and raising wings signal intended flight in birds; staring toward an
intruder by a baboon is a clear intention movement that precedes an attack. Displacement
behaviors occur when an animal, faced with conflicting drives, displays a seemingly unrelated
activity in response. A male gull confronted with a strange female, for instance, may feel
conflicting drives to court and to fight, but he may do neither and preen instead. This preening
behavior, with its original purpose of keeping the bird¶s feathers well oiled and tidy, now exists in
many bird species as a form of social communication.

Researchers gather clues about the evolution of displays by examining the behavior of related
species. For example, in the courting behavior of chickens, males peck at the ground for food to
get the females¶ attention. Male pheasants perform a similar type of pecking, adding a tail-feather
display to lure females. Male peacocks no longer peck at the ground during courtship, but simply
point their head symbolically downward; moreover, the tail display has become highly dramatized.
The peacock's behavior is thought to be a ritualized form of the more primitive display seen in the
chicken.

IX STUDIES OF ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

The two basic approaches to studying animal communication, as in most scientific studies, are
observation and experimentation. Ideally, an animal should be studied in its natural habitat, but
often this is not practically possible. In most animal communication studies, both observation and
experimentation are carried out under highly controlled laboratory conditions. Some vital elements
of animal communication may still elude researchers, however, because animals in captivity rarely
behave exactly as they would in the wild.

Scientists studying sound communication use spectrograms²recordings of animal calls translated

into graphs²that enable researchers to record animals communicating in nature. These graphs, or
voice prints, have enabled scientists to discover different song dialects in birds of the same species
who live in distant habitats, including specific signals such as mating calls, threats or warnings,
and food calls. Spectrograms have also been used to analyze whale songs, which include distinct
melodies, richly varied pitches, and repeated patterns.

Behavioral research with crickets has confirmed a direct link between communication signals and
an animal¶s genes. During courtship, male crickets chirp to lure females to their burrows.
Researchers bred two crickets with distinctly different chirping patterns, and the resulting offspring
had a chirp that was a precise mix of the parents¶ patterns. This showed that all the information
necessary for crickets to communicate is passed along in the genes.

Scientists have long debated to what extent animal-to-animal interactions should be considered
³communication.´ While most scientists agree that behaviors such as mating rituals and aggression
displays are communicative, other behaviors remain open to question. For example, what about a
field mouse in the bushes whose rustling noises tip off a hawk to swoop in for the kill? In such a
case, the mouse¶s behavior has transmitted information to the hawk, but calling this actual
communication is debatable.

As a result, some animal behaviorists have modified their definition of communication to say the
signaler must benefit from the interaction for it to be communicative. Evolutionary biologists have
gone further to argue that both the signaler and receiver must benefit in some way; otherwise,
natural selection would eliminate the display over time.

Another hotly debated topic in research is whether animals have the capacity to learn language.
Language is a highly developed form of communication that has traditionally provided a clear-cut
distinction of humans from other animals. From one current perspective, an animal is said to
employ language when it uses symbols to represent abstract ideas and the symbols have different
meanings depending on the order in which they are communicated. Researchers have come
closest to demonstrating animal linguistic capabilities with chimpanzees. Chimps can acquire
vocabularies of more than 100 sign-language words and use the words to communicate immediate
needs. Their ability to create sentences with the words and use symbolism in the human sense,
however, is still open to question.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
|