Male African elephants discriminate and prefer vocalizations of unfamiliar females.

ABSTRACT: Gaining information about conspecifics via long-distance vocalizations is crucial for social and spatially flexible species such as the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Female elephants are known to discriminate individuals and kin based on acoustic cues. Specifically, females approached the loudspeaker exclusively with playbacks of familiar individuals with high association indexes, intentionally fusing with their affiliates. For males, which are less bonded, gathering social information via vocalizations could still have important implications, but little is known about their vocal discrimination skills. We experimentally tested the ability of male African elephants to discriminate the social rumbles of familiar (from the same population) versus unfamiliar females. Male elephants d

SUBMITTER: Stoeger AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5395942 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature