Birds Learn Socially to Recognize Heterospecific Alarm Calls by Acoustic Association

1. Download high-res image (222KB)
2. Download full-size image

     

仙姑弹琴蛙蝌蚪对陌生捕食者克氏原螯虾的反捕反应

以峨眉山的仙姑弹琴蛙 (Ranadaunchina)蝌蚪作为猎物 ,该地区潜在的入侵物种克氏原螯虾 (Procambarusclarkii)为捕食者 ,于冬季设计实验观察仙姑弹琴蛙蝌蚪对陌生入侵捕食者的反捕行为反应。实验按照 3× 3× 2因子设计 ,即 :捕食者状况 3个水平 (食植物的克氏原螯虾、食蝌蚪的克氏原螯虾和无捕食者 ) ,蝌蚪年龄组 3个水平(31- 35期的 2 .5龄蝌蚪、2 6 - 30期的 1.5龄蝌蚪和 2 5期的 0 .5龄蝌蚪 ) ,以及蝌蚪短期经验 2个水平 (有经验和无经验 )。实验发现 :有短期被捕食经验的蝌蚪的活动时间极显著低于无被捕食经验的蝌蚪 ,而静止时间以及隐蔽所利用时间却极显著地高于无经验的蝌蚪 ;短期经验和捕食者状况的交互效应对蝌蚪的活动时间有显著影响 ;而蝌蚪年龄、捕食者状况及其交互效应对蝌蚪的行为反应没有显著影响。这表明 ,有短期被捕食经历的仙姑弹琴蛙蝌蚪并未通过个体学习建立起对陌生捕食者克氏原螯虾的识别能力 ,而是表现出无针对性的活动性受抑、隐蔽时间增加的行为反应。如果自然条件下的仙姑弹琴蛙蝌蚪也有类似反应 ,在克氏原螯虾入侵初期 ,仙姑弹琴蛙蝌蚪则可能会由于无法识别新的捕食者而表现出过度的反捕行为反应 ,承受更大的亚致死作用 ,而对种群生存造成不利影响     

Which Factors Affect Sex Ratio of Spined Loach (genus Cobitis) in Lake Müggelsee?

The distribution and extent of chemical alarm signaling systems among some families of fishes, including the Cottidae, remains unclear. In laboratory experiments, we tested whether reticulate sculpins, Cottus perplexus, respond to chemical alarm signals released by injured conspecifics. Sculpins decreased movement following exposure to skin extracts from conspecifics, but did not respond to cues of syntopic speckled dace, Rhinichthyes osculus, or allotopic swordtails, Xiphophorous helleri. Additional tests demonstrated that the responses of sculpins to alarm cues were dependent on the hunger level of the test fish. Sculpins deprived of food for 2 days failed to respond to conspecific alarm cues, however, the same individuals fed to satiation did respond to alarm cues.     

Social bonds affect anti-predator behaviour in a tolerant species of macaque, Macaca nigra

Enduring positive social bonds between individuals are crucial for humans' health and well being. Similar bonds can be found in a wide range of taxa, revealing the evolutionary origins of humans' social bonds. Evidence suggests that these strong social bonds can function to buffer the negative effects of living in groups, but it is not known whether they also function to minimize predation risk. Here, we show that crested macaques (Macaca nigra) react more strongly to playbacks of recruitment alarm calls (i.e. calls signalling the presence of a predator and eliciting cooperative mobbing behaviour) if they were produced by an individual with whom they share a strong social bond. Dominance relationships between caller and listener had no effect on the reaction of the listener. Thus, strong social bonds may improve the coordination and efficiency of cooperative defence against predators, and therefore increase chances of survival. This result broadens our understanding of the evolution and function of social bonds by highlighting their importance in the anti-predator context.     

A mutual understanding? Interspecific responses by birds to each other's aerial alarm calls

Individuals are likely to benefit from responding to the alarmsignals of other species with similar predators, and mutualinterspecific responses to aerial (hawk) alarms are thoughtto be common in birds, in part because similarity in alarm callstructure among species might facilitate detection or interpretation.However, there has been no test of whether interspecific responsesto aerial alarm calls can involve mutual responses between speciesand only incomplete tests of the response of any species tosuch heterospecific alarms. We describe the aerial alarm callsof white-browed scrubwrens (Sericornis frontalis) and superbfairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) and use a playback experimentto test for mutual responses to each other's aerial alarm calls.The 2 species occur in similar habitats and can co-occur inmixed-species flocks during the nonbreeding season. The aerialalarm calls of both species are high pitched (7 kHz) and rapidlyfrequency-modulated calls but are distinct in frequency measuresand only the scrubwren's call had 2 parallel sounds. Both speciesfled to cover after playback of either their own or the otherspecies' alarm calls but never to control sounds. The responseto either species' alarm was almost invariant in both speciesin an experiment at high natural amplitude, but there was aslightly lower response to heterospecific compared with conspecificalarms when playbacks were at the mean natural amplitude. Ourresults demonstrate, after at least 50 years of interest inthe subject, that there can be mutual responses to aerial alarmcalls between species.     

Notes on the ecology of buffy saki monkeys (Pithecia albicans,Gray 1860): A canopy seed-predator

Data on the ecology and diet of buffy sakis (Pithecia albicans) were obtained during a 20-month study in an entirely undisturbed terra firme forest in the upper Urucu river, Amazonas, Brazil. Groups of 3–7 sakis found in a 900-ha study plot used large home ranges (147–204 ha), which overlapped extensively with those of neighboring groups. Similar to other pitheciines, buffy sakis were primarily seed predators, relying heavily on young seeds of certain key plant families, such as the Sapotaceae and Leguminosae. Ripe fruits, ripe seeds, young leaves, flowers, and nectar were eaten to a lesser extent. Whether or not feeding, sakis spent most of their time in the canopy and subcanopy, a pattern similar to that of other southwestern Amazonian saki species, but sharply different from that of Guianan sakis (Pithecia pithecia), which use considerably lower levels of the forest. Comparisons are made between different Pithecia species to show whether and how P. albicans diverges ecologically from its congeners. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Specialized predation on plataspid heteropterans in a coccinellid beetle: adaptive behavior and responses of prey attended or not by ants

Two plataspid hemipteran species proliferated on Bridelia micrantha(Euphorbiaceae). Colonies of Libyaspis sp., never attendedby ants, developed on branches, while Caternaultiella rugosa lived at the base of the trunks, mostly in association withCamponotus brutus that attends them in carton shelters. Bothplataspid species are prey of the coccinellid beetle Anisolemniatetrasticta, whose larvae always detected them by contact.When attacked the Libyaspis nymphs cowered, so that the hypertrophiedlateral sides of their tergits made contact with the substrate,but the ladybirds slid their long forelegs under these nymphs,lifted them, and bit them on the ventral face. The Caternaultiellanymphs, which do not have hypertrophied extremities of thetergits, tried to escape at contact with the ladybirds, butwere rarely successful. To capture them, the ladybirds eitheradopted the previous behavior or directly grasped then bitthem. We noted a graded aggressiveness in the ants toward theladybirds according to the situation: no aggressiveness onthe tree branches; stopping the ladybirds that approached theshelters where the ants attended Caternaultiella; and fullattack of ladybirds that tried to capture Caternaultiella nymphssituated outside shelters. The latter behavior can emit analarm pheromone that triggers the dispersion of their congenerswhile attracting attending C. brutus workers. Naive workersare not attracted, so we deduce that this behavior is the resultof a kind of learning.