Unit 1 Making a Living in the Wild Chapter 9 Part 1 Communication

Sender sends signal to receiver Receiver responds in some way Leads to an advantage to sender Can also be advantage to receiver w/o intention

Channels of communication Sound Visual Touch Smell Electric fields Substrate vibration

Sound Calls- short Songs- long Language- most complex Good: radiates in all directions at once, can easily be turned on/off Bad: takes E, heard by pred Used to notify of proximate pred

Visual messages Good: easily identified, little error, quickly transmitted, directional, contains lots of info Bad: not over long distances, easily blocked, need light Light: can create light as a signal Some can change color quickly

Touch messages Must be in close contact Communicates dominance or submission Giving of a food message Initiate transport message

Chemical message Chemical pathways- most universal form of communication Pheromones Cheap to produce, less risky to attract attention, last long time, good in day or night, not good after inclement weather

Releasers vs. primers Chemical releasers affect behavior of another individual Primers directly affect other individual’s physiology Bruce effect-tendency for female rodents to terminate their pregnancies following exposure to the scent of an unfamiliar male

Fxns of communication: 2 theories of why it evolved 1. Share info about what the animal will do next 2. To manipulate other’s behaviors b/c advantageous to themselves

Comm is specific to a group Social releasers- elicit distinctive social behaviors of the same species Ritualization- signals become part of the social communication

Recognition fxns- be able to recognize their own species, group, family, mated pairs, offspring Primates have distinct facial characteristics Voices

Group coordination Whales live in groups called pods Each group has own dialect Young learn by imitating adults Alarm- warns others of danger by sound or chemical Hunting- more efficient Foraging- can show location to others