Vervets revisited: A quantitative analysis of alarm call structure and context specificity.

ABSTRACT: The alarm calls of vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) constitute the classic textbook example of semantic communication in nonhuman animals, as vervet monkeys give acoustically distinct calls to different predators and these calls elicit appropriate responses in conspecifics. They also give similar sounding calls in aggressive contexts, however. Despite the central role the vervet alarm calls have played for understanding the evolution of communication, a comprehensive, quantitative analysis of the acoustic structure of these calls was lacking. We used 2-step cluster analysis to identify objective call types and discriminant function analysis to assess context specificity. Alarm calls given in response to leopards, eagles, and snakes could be well distinguished, while the inclusion o

SUBMITTER: Price T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4541072 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature