Speedy revelations: how alarm calls can convey rapid, reliable information about urgent danger.

ABSTRACT: In the perpetual struggle between high-speed predators and their prey, individuals need to react in the blink of an eye to avoid capture. Alarm calls that warn of danger therefore need to do so sufficiently rapidly that listeners can escape in time. Paradoxically, many species produce more elements in their alarm calls when signalling about more immediate danger, thereby increasing the reliability of transmission of critical information but taking longer to convey the urgent message. We found that New Holland honeyeaters, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae, incorporated more elements in alarm calls given to more dangerous predators, but video analysis revealed that listeners responded in 100 ms, after only the first element. Consistent with this rapid response, the acoustic structure of t

SUBMITTER: McLachlan JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7062026 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature