scholarly journals Socially foraging bats discriminate between group members based on search-phase echolocation calls

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1103-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna E Kohles ◽  
Gerald G Carter ◽  
Rachel A Page ◽  
Dina K N Dechmann
Keyword(s):  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Foraging Success ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Echolocation Calls ◽  
Individual Discrimination ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Molossus Molossus

Abstract Animals have evolved diverse strategies to use social information for increasing foraging success and efficiency. Echolocating bats, for example, can eavesdrop on bats foraging nearby because they shift from search-phase calls to feeding buzzes when they detect prey. Feeding buzzes can directly convey information about prey presence, but it is unknown whether search-phase calls also convey social information. Here, we investigated whether search-phase echolocation calls, distinct calls produced by some bat species to scan large open areas for prey, can additionally convey individual identity. We tested this in Molossus molossus, a neotropical insectivorous bat that forages with group members, presumably to find ephemeral insect swarms more efficiently. We caught M. molossus from six different social groups and recorded their search-phase calls during a standardized release procedure, then recaptured and tested 19 marked bats with habituation–dishabituation playback experiments. We showed that they can discriminate between group members based on search-phase calls, and our statistical analysis of call parameters supported the presence of individual signatures in search-phase calls. Individual discrimination is a prerequisite of individual recognition, which may allow M. molossus to maintain contact with group members while foraging without using specialized signals for communication.

THE 'WHINNY' OF SPIDER MONKEYS: INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION BEFORE SITUATIONAL MEANING

Behaviour ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Byrne ◽  
Patricia Teixidor
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Spider Monkeys ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Active Response ◽  
Group Movement ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Santa Rosa National Park ◽  
Situational Meaning

AbstractWhen spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) are dispersed and moving through wooded areas in the dry forest of Santa Rosa National Park in Costa Rica, they give loud calls, whinnies, that can be heard over long distances and appear to be answered with the same call from other monkeys. We examined the circumstances in which this vocalization was emitted and the responses elicited from other group members. A total of 105 h of continuous recordings on emission of whinnies, 113 h of individual focal samples and 291 spectrograms were analyzed from a study group with 15 identified subjects. Whinnies emitted in different circumstances caused different reactions. Whinnies provoked by the sight of an observer were never responded to in any particular way, while those given during resting or feeding sometimes caused an active response of approach or calling. Most strikingly, whinnies given during group movement provoked hearers to approach or call significantly more often than either those given while feeding or resting. Playback experiments found one response, 'scan', to differ according to the original circumstances of emission of the broadcast call: monkeys scanned more in the direction of the sound when hearing feeding rather than group movement whinnies.

scholarly journals Bat echolocation calls facilitate social communication

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1748) ◽  
pp. 4827-4835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam Knörnschild ◽  
Kirsten Jung ◽  
Martina Nagy ◽  
Markus Metz ◽  
Elisabeth Kalko
Keyword(s):  
Social Communication ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Echolocation Calls ◽  
Saccopteryx Bilineata ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Vocal Signatures ◽  
Nocturnal Mammal

Bat echolocation is primarily used for orientation and foraging but also holds great potential for social communication. The communicative function of echolocation calls is still largely unstudied, especially in the wild. Eavesdropping on vocal signatures encoding social information in echolocation calls has not, to our knowledge, been studied in free-living bats so far. We analysed echolocation calls of the polygynous bat Saccopteryx bilineata and found pronounced vocal signatures encoding sex and individual identity. We showed experimentally that free-living males discriminate approaching male and female conspecifics solely based on their echolocation calls. Males always produced aggressive vocalizations when hearing male echolocation calls and courtship vocalizations when hearing female echolocation calls; hence, they responded with complex social vocalizations in the appropriate social context. Our study demonstrates that social information encoded in bat echolocation calls plays a crucial and hitherto underestimated role for eavesdropping conspecifics and thus facilitates social communication in a highly mobile nocturnal mammal.

scholarly journals Individual vocal signatures show reduced complexity following invasion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Smith-Vidaurre ◽  
Valeria Perez ◽  
Timothy F. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Frequency Modulation ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Supervised Machine Learning ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Invasive Range ◽  
Myiopsitta Monachus ◽  
Vocal Signatures

AbstractThe manner in which vocal learning is used for social recognition may be sensitive to the social environment. Biological invaders capable of vocal learning are useful for testing this possibility, as invasion alters population size. If vocal learning is used for individual recognition, then individual identity should be encoded in frequency modulation patterns of acoustic signals. Furthermore, frequency modulation patterns should be more complex in larger social groups, reflecting greater selection for individual distinctiveness. We compared social group sizes and used supervised machine learning and frequency contours to compare contact call structure between native range monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) in Uruguay and invasive range populations in the U.S. Invasive range sites exhibited fewer nests and simpler frequency modulation patterns. Beecher’s statistic revealed reduced individual identity content and fewer possible unique individual signatures in invasive range calls. Lower estimated social densities and simpler individual signatures are consistent with relaxed selection on the complexity of calls learned for individual recognition in smaller social groups. These findings run counter to the traditional view that vocal learning is used for imitation, and suggest that vocal learning can be employed to produce individual vocal signatures in a manner sensitive to local population size.

scholarly journals Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1740) ◽  
pp. 20160508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Benson-Amram ◽  
Geoff Gilfillan ◽  
Karen McComb
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Playback Experiments ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Numerical Assessment ◽  
Individual Discrimination ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
Assessment Skills ◽  
In The Wild

Playback experiments have proved to be a useful tool to investigate the extent to which wild animals understand numerical concepts and the factors that play into their decisions to respond to different numbers of vocalizing conspecifics. In particular, playback experiments have broadened our understanding of the cognitive abilities of historically understudied species that are challenging to test in the traditional laboratory, such as members of the Order Carnivora. Additionally, playback experiments allow us to assess the importance of numerical information versus other ecologically important variables when animals are making adaptive decisions in their natural habitats. Here, we begin by reviewing what we know about quantity discrimination in carnivores from studies conducted in captivity. We then review a series of playback experiments conducted with wild social carnivores, including African lions, spotted hyenas and wolves, which demonstrate that these animals can assess the number of conspecifics calling and respond based on numerical advantage. We discuss how the wild studies complement those conducted in captivity and allow us to gain insights into why wild animals may not always respond based solely on differences in quantity. We then consider the key roles that individual discrimination and cross-modal recognition play in the ability of animals to assess the number of conspecifics vocalizing nearby. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in this area, highlighting in particular the need for further work on the cognitive basis of numerical assessment skills and experimental paradigms that can be effective in both captive and wild settings. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The origins of numerical abilities’.

Copy the In-group: Group Membership Trumps Perceived Reliability, Warmth, and Competence in a Social-Learning Task

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762110322
Author(s):  
Marcel Montrey ◽  
Thomas R. Shultz
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Minimal Group Paradigm ◽  
Learning Game ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Cumulative Cultural Evolution

Surprisingly little is known about how social groups influence social learning. Although several studies have shown that people prefer to copy in-group members, these studies have failed to resolve whether group membership genuinely affects who is copied or whether group membership merely correlates with other known factors, such as similarity and familiarity. Using the minimal-group paradigm, we disentangled these effects in an online social-learning game. In a sample of 540 adults, we found a robust in-group-copying bias that (a) was bolstered by a preference for observing in-group members; (b) overrode perceived reliability, warmth, and competence; (c) grew stronger when social information was scarce; and (d) even caused cultural divergence between intermixed groups. These results suggest that people genuinely employ a copy-the-in-group social-learning strategy, which could help explain how inefficient behaviors spread through social learning and how humans maintain the cultural diversity needed for cumulative cultural evolution.

scholarly journals Effects of negative social information on the willingness to support charities: the moderating role of regulatory focus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nhat Quang Le ◽  
Magne Supphellen ◽  
Richard P. Bagozzi
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Harmful Effect ◽  
Promotion Focus ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Willingness To Donate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Harmful Effects

Abstract Donation campaigns that have an unsuccessful start often trigger negative social information in the social and mass media (e.g., “few others have donated so far”). Little research exists to shed light on the effects of such information in the context of donations. Across three studies involving different causes and different channels of communication, we find harmful effects of negative social information on the willingness to donate among prevention-focused consumers but tendencies of positive effects for consumers with a promotion focus. We identify response efficacy as a mediator of the harmful effect for prevention-focused consumers. This finding suggests that social proof theory is not sufficient to explain the harmful effect of negative social information. Alternative mediators are tested and rejected. The findings imply that an effective strategy to avoid harmful effects of negative social information is to trigger a promotion focus in target group members and communicate facts about charity effectiveness.

Groups and Social Boundaries

2021 ◽  
pp. 72-108
Author(s):  
Jan Fuhse
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Cultural Difference ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Group Concept ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Network Patterns ◽  
Social Units

Social groups were a key concept in early sociology (German formal sociology, symbolic interactionism). Since the 1960s, they have been replaced by “social network” as the prime concept for informal social structures. We rarely find the bounded and internally homogeneous social units suggested by the group concept in the real world. Instead, individuals are embedded in a complex mesh of social relationships. Building on relational sociology, we can reconceptualize groups as a particular case of densely connected network patterns of social relationships. These exist only by degree, to the extent that they are reinforced by a social boundary separating the group members symbolically from the outside world and by foci of activity for the group to meet. Densely connected groups develop a particular group culture, and they frequently use symbols to signal group membership and the cultural difference to other groups and to the wider cultural context (group style).

Behavioural consistency and group conformity in humbug damselfish

Behaviour ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 154 (13-15) ◽  
pp. 1343-1359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia L.J. Burns ◽  
Timothy M. Schaerf ◽  
Ashley J.W. Ward
Keyword(s):  
Dominance Rank ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Absolute Size ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Behavioural Type ◽  
Level Of Activity ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Dascyllus Aruanus

Abstract Humbug damselfish, Dascyllus aruanus, are a common coral reef fish that form stable social groups with size-based social hierarchies. Here we caught whole wild groups of damselfish and tested whether social groups tended to be comprised of animals that are more similar to one another in terms of their behavioural type, than expected by chance. First we found that individuals were repeatable in their level of activity and exploration, and that this was independent of both absolute size and within-group dominance rank, indicating that animals were behaviourally consistent. Secondly, despite the fact that individuals were tested independently, the behaviour of members of the same groups was significantly more similar than expected under a null model, suggesting that individual behaviour develops and is shaped by conformity to the behaviour of other group members. This is one of the first studies to demonstrate this group-level behavioural conformity in wild-caught groups.

Punishment and Cooperation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Willem van Prooijen
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Crime Rates ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Economic Games ◽  
The Core ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Supernatural Punishment

One of the core assumptions of the proposition that moral punishment is an instinct is that punishment stimulates cooperation among group members. This chapter starts with supernatural punishment, illuminating that whereas belief in heaven has no effect on national crime rates, belief in hell reduces crime rates. Also, in economic games, the possibility to punish increases the cooperation that people display. These effects emerge because punishment increases deterrence, communicates moral norms, and instills trust. The chapter then notes that punishment has facilitated cooperation among strangers as people started forming large states, and that people become more punitive in situations that required unconditional cooperation and self-sacrifice for the group (i.e., war). These findings suggest that punishment indeed stimulates cooperation in social groups.

scholarly journals Contrasts in kinship structure in mammalian societies

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 971-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Dyble ◽  
Tim H Clutton-Brock
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Competitive Behavior ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Interspecific Differences ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Relative Rarity ◽  
Kinship Structure ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Comparative studies of mammals confirm Hamilton’s prediction that differences in cooperative and competitive behavior across species will be related to contrasts in kinship between group members. Although theoretical models have explored the factors affecting kinship within social groups, few have analyzed the causes of contrasts in kinship among related species. Here, we describe interspecific differences in average kinship between group members among social mammals and show that a simple mathematical model that includes the number of breeding females, male reproductive skew, and litter size successfully predicts ~95% of observed variation in average kinship between group members across a sample of mammals. Our model shows that a wide range of conditions can generate groups with low average relatedness but only a small and rather specific set of conditions are likely to generate high average levels of relatedness between their members, providing insight into the relative rarity of advanced forms of cooperation in mammalian societies.

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