Signal Design Rules Signal design: features and rules Examples –Species recognition –Courtship...
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Transcript of Signal Design Rules Signal design: features and rules Examples –Species recognition –Courtship...
Signal Design Rules
• Signal design: features and rules
• Examples– Species recognition– Courtship– Territory defense– Conflict resolution– Alarm
Signal design features• Signal range: context and sender/receiver distance• Locatability: cryptic vs conspicuous• Duty cycle: % on• Identification level: information content -species,
sex, individual• Modulation potential: stereotyped vs graded• Form-content linkage: arbitrary or linked due to
source or other constraint
Species differences in bird song
Species differences are encoded in frequency range, INI, note structure
Convergence in mate attraction signals
• Habitat effects– Bird song: whistles in forest, trills in open
habitats– Lizard head bobbing: bob shape on ground,
interbob interval for arboreal species
• Signaling sex and modality– Males use auditory or visual signals– Females use chemical signals
Static vs dynamic calling displays
Static components:Convey information aboutspecies differences.Females prefer mode.
Dynamic components:Convey information aboutindividual differences.Females prefer extremes.
Courtship signal and reproductive strategies
• If paternal care is important, courtship is likely to involve nest building or mate feeding
• When females are dangerous, courtship signals are often submissive (e.g. spiders)
• When male dominance is important, courtship signals are often loud, aggressive, and physical
Mammal flee vs alert alarm calls
Californiagroundsquirrel
Belding’sgroundsquirrel
Domesticchicken
Forest guenonmonkey
Across function comparisons
• If design rules are the result of selection and constraints, expect convergence across taxa
• More comparative studies are needed to uncover trends in signal form in relation to social function and sender context