Influence of season and social context on male giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) vocal behaviour.

ABSTRACT: Documenting the different social and behavioural contexts that vocalisations are produced in remains an important step towards understanding the functional relevance of specific call types in a given species' vocal repertoire. In this study we investigated whether seasonal differences and the presence or absence of male and female conspecifics influence the production of male giant panda vocal signals. To this end, captive male giant pandas were observed during and outside of the breeding season in three social contexts: only male conspecific neighbours, only female conspecific neighbours, and a context with no neighbours. We found that males were more likely to bleat, chirp, honk and moan during the breeding season, and showed a tendency to growl more outside of the reproductive period. T

SUBMITTER: Charlton BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6879133 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature