scholarly journals Who’s your neighbor? Acoustic cues to individual identity in red squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus rattle calls

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 758-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon M. Digweed ◽  
Drew Rendall ◽  
Teana Imbeau
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Red Squirrels

Abstract North American red squirrels Tamiasciurus hudsonicus often produce a loud territorial rattle call when conspecifics enter or invade a territory. Previous playback experiments suggest that the territorial rattle call may indicate an invader’s identity as squirrels responded more intensely to calls played from strangers than to calls played from neighbors. This dear-enemy effect is well known in a variety of bird and mammal species and functions to reduce aggressive interactions between known neighbors. However, although previous experiments on red squirrels suggest some form of individual differentiation and thus recognition, detailed acoustic analysis of potential acoustic cues in rattle calls have not been conducted. If calls function to aid in conspecific identification in order to mitigate aggressive territorial interactions, we would expect that individual recognition cues would be acoustically represented. Our work provides a detailed analysis of acoustic cues to identity within rattle calls. A total of 225 calls across 32 individual squirrels from Sheep River Provincial Park, Kananaskis, AB, Canada, were analyzed with discriminant function analysis for potential acoustic cues to individual identity. Initial analysis of all individuals revealed a reliable acoustic differentiation across individuals. A more detailed analysis of clusters of neighboring squirrels was performed and results again indicated a statistically significant likelihood that calls were assigned correctly to specific squirrels (55%-75% correctly assigned); in other words squirrels have distinct voices that should allow for individual identification and discrimination by conspecifics.

Note types and coding in parid vocalizations. I: The chick-a-dee call of the black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 769-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Charrier ◽  
Laurie L Bloomfield ◽  
Christopher B Sturdy
Keyword(s):  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Acoustic Features ◽  
Poecile Atricapillus ◽  
Type Composition ◽  
Bioacoustic Analysis ◽  
Perceptual Abilities ◽  
Individual Specificity ◽  
Winter Flocks

The chick-a-dee call of the black-capped chickadee, Poecile atricapillus (L., 1766), consists of four note types and is used in a wide variety of contexts including mild alarm, contact between mates, and for mobilizing members of winter flocks. Because note-type composition varies with context and because birds need to identify flock mates and individuals by their calls, it is important that birds are able to discriminate between note types and birds. Moreover, previous experiments have shown that black-capped chickadees are able to discriminate their four note types, but the acoustical basis of this process is still unknown. Here, we present the results of a bioacoustic analysis that suggests which acoustic features may be controlling the birds' perception of note types and of individual identity. Several acoustic features show high note type and individual specificity, but frequency and frequency modulation cues (in particular, those of the initial part of the note) appear more likely to be used in these processes. However, only future experiments testing the bird's perceptual abilities will determine which acoustic cues in particular are used in the discrimination of note types and in individual recognition.

scholarly journals VARIASI STRUKTUR VOKALISASI OWA JAWA (Hylobates moloch Audebert, 1798) DI HUTAN LINDUNG PETUNGKRIYONO, PEKALONGAN, JAWA TENGAH

Jurnal BIOMA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Sity Maida ◽  
Paskal Sukandar ◽  
Yossa Istiadi
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Individual Identification ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Phase Duration ◽  
Structure Variation ◽  
Call Duration ◽  
Great Call ◽  
Javan Gibbon

Javan gibbon is one of an endemic species of Java with kind of unique vocalizations. Supported by a study which showed that every individual has the different anatomy vocal tract that will produce a different sound. Character vocalizations formed from the structure of vocalizations vary between individuals would be the identity of an individual so that there will be effective communication between the giver signal to the receiver. The objective of research is to find out the structure variation of Javan gibbon vocalizations.The research was accomplished in August-September 2015 at the Petungkriyono Protected Forest, Pekalongan, Central Java. The method used is the Focal Continuous sampling. Ratio coefficient of variation within and between female, indicates that the variable vocalizations vary between individuals, and the correct rate of individual identification yielded bydiscriminant function analysis using variable vocalizations was satisfactory (94,4%). Variable vocalization differentiatoris total great call duration (8,99-13,53 s), total great call duration excluding termination phase, duration pre-trill phase, duration introduction note (0,147-0,612 s), frequency range introduction note (408,54-1209,6 Hz), minimal frequency introduction note, maximal frequency introduction note, minimal frequency second trill note, minimal frequency at end of trill note, and minimal frequency range in trill. These vocalizations potentially allow individual recognition of animals.

scholarly journals Potential of Small Culverts as Wildlife Passages on Forest Roads

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7224
Author(s):  
Hsiang-Ling Chen ◽  
Erin E. Posthumus ◽  
John L. Koprowski
Keyword(s):  
Animal Movement ◽  
Small Dimension ◽  
Lynx Rufus ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Forest Roads ◽  
Alternative Pathways ◽  
Slow Moving ◽  
Trail Cameras ◽  
Spermophilus Variegatus

Roads and traffic can cause animal mortality. Specifically, roads serve as barriers by impeding animal movement, resulting in demographic and genetic consequences. Drainage structures, such as culverts, can provide linkages between habitat patches. However, the potential of small culverts with diameters of <60 cm (e.g., wildlife passages that facilitate movement on forest roads) are relatively unknown. In this study, we used trail cameras to monitor the use of 14 small culverts, by mammals, along forest roads on Mt. Graham, home of the critically endangered Mt. Graham red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis), in southeastern Arizona, USA. From 2011 to 2013, we only recorded 20 completed road crossings through culverts. More than half of culvert uses were by striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), followed by the rock squirrel (Spermophilus variegatus) and the bobcat (Lynx rufus). The Mt. Graham red squirrel was the only species that was common along the roads, but never crossed the roads. Culverts with higher usages were characterized by shorter culvert lengths and absence of accumulated soil inside the culverts. Our study shows that small-dimension drainage systems may provide alternative pathways for wildlife crossing roads, especially for slow moving and ground dwelling species. However, the potential of small culverts assisting wildlife crossings can only be maximized when culverts are accessible year-round.

Jack pine cone quality and cache sizes of red squirrels in southern New Brunswick, Canada

1997 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Setterington ◽  
Daniel M. Keppie
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Seed Mass ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Length Width ◽  
Total Seed ◽  
Number Of Seeds

Relationships between external cone characteristics (length, width, wet and dry mass), cone quality (total seed mass as a proportion of cone mass, total number of seeds per cone, total seed mass per cone), and number of cones in caches were evaluated for caches of jack pine (Pinus banksiana) cones belonging to red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in two plantations in southern New Brunswick. Cone length and mass were good predictors of the total number of seeds per cone and total seed mass per cone. Length accounted for a small proportion of the variance of total seed mass as a proportion of cone mass. There was no relationship between the number of seeds or total seed mass per cone and the number of cones per cache.

scholarly journals Initial laryngeal neutralisation in Tyrolean

Phonology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Vietti ◽  
Birgit Alber ◽  
Barbara Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Closure Duration

In the Southern Bavarian variety of Tyrolean, laryngeal contrasts undergo a typologically interesting process of neutralisation in word-initial position. We undertake an acoustic analysis of Tyrolean stops in word-initial, word-medial intersonorant and word-final contexts, as well as in obstruent clusters, investigating the role of the acoustic parameters VOT, prevoicing, closure duration and F0 and H1–H2* on following vowels in implementing contrast, if any. Results show that stops contrast word-medially via [voice] (supported by the acoustic cues of closure duration and F0), and are neutralised completely in word-final position and in obstruent clusters. Word-initially, neutralisation is subject to inter- and intraspeaker variability, and is sensitive to place of articulation. Aspiration plays no role in implementing laryngeal contrasts in Tyrolean.

SEASONAL DAMAGE BY INSECTS AND SQUIRRELS TO FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE STRUCTURES OF BLACK SPRUCE, PICEA MARIANA (MILL.) B.S.P.

1988 ◽  
Vol 120 (12) ◽  
pp. 1113-1121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.H. Prévost ◽  
J.E. Laing ◽  
V.F. Haavisto
Keyword(s):  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Choristoneura Fumiferana ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Red Squirrel ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Cone Axis ◽  
Viable Seeds ◽  
Cone Growth

AbstractThe seasonal damage to female reproductive structures (buds, flowers, and cones) of black spruce, Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P., was assessed during 1983 and 1984. Nineteen insects (five Orders) and the red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus (Erxleben), were found feeding on these reproductive structures. Collectively, these organisms damaged 88.9 and 53.5% of the cones in 1983 and 1984, respectively. In the 2 years, Lepidoptera damaged 61.8% of the cones in 1983 and 44.4% of the cones in 1984. The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.), and the spruce coneworm, Dioryctria reniculelloides Mut. and Mun., were the most important pests. Cones damaged by Lepidoptera could be classed into three categories: (a) severe, yielding no seeds; (b) moderate, yielding 22.3 seeds per cone; and (c) light, yielding 37.5 seeds per cone. Undamaged cones yielded on average 39.9 seeds per cone. Red squirrels removed 18.8% of the cones in 1983 and none in 1984. The spruce cone axis midge, Dasineura rachiphaga Tripp, and the spruce cone maggot, Lasiomma anthracinum (Czerny), caused minor damage in both years. Feeding by spruce cone axis midge did not reduce cone growth significantly or the number of viable seeds per cone, but feeding by the spruce cone maggot did. During both years new damage by insects to the female reproductive structures of the experimental trees was not observed after mid-July. In 1983 damage by red squirrels occurred from early to late September. In 1984 damage to cones on trees treated with dimethoate was 15.6% compared with 53.5% for untreated trees, without an increase in the number of aborted cones.

scholarly journals Is biasing offspring sex ratio adaptive? A test of Fisher's principle across multiple generations of a wild mammal in a fluctuating environment

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1891) ◽  
pp. 20181251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea E. Wishart ◽  
Cory T. Williams ◽  
Andrew G. McAdam ◽  
Stan Boutin ◽  
Ben Dantzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio ◽  
Secondary Sex Ratio ◽  
North American Red Squirrels ◽  
Negative Frequency Dependent Selection ◽  
Fisher’S Principle

Fisher's principle explains that population sex ratio in sexually reproducing organisms is maintained at 1 : 1 owing to negative frequency-dependent selection, such that individuals of the rare sex realize greater reproductive opportunity than individuals of the more common sex until equilibrium is reached. If biasing offspring sex ratio towards the rare sex is adaptive, individuals that do so should have more grandoffspring. In a wild population of North American red squirrels ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus ) that experiences fluctuations in resource abundance and population density, we show that overall across 26 years, the secondary sex ratio was 1 : 1; however, stretches of years during which adult sex ratio was biased did not yield offspring sex ratios biased towards the rare sex. Females that had litters biased towards the rare sex did not have more grandoffspring. Critically, the adult sex ratio was not temporally autocorrelated across years, thus the population sex ratio experienced by parents was independent of the population sex ratio experienced by their offspring at their primiparity. Expected fitness benefits of biasing offspring sex ratio may be masked or negated by fluctuating environments across years, which limit the predictive value of the current sex ratio.

scholarly journals The effects of stress and glucocorticoids on vocalizations: a test in North American red squirrels

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1030-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Sehrsweeney ◽  
David R Wilson ◽  
Maggie Bain ◽  
Stan Boutin ◽  
Jeffrey E Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress State ◽  
North American ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Acoustic Structure ◽  
North American Red Squirrels ◽  
Important Means

AbstractAcoustic signaling is an important means by which animals communicate both stable and labile characteristics. Although it is widely appreciated that vocalizations can convey information on labile state, such as fear and aggression, fewer studies have experimentally examined the acoustic expression of stress state. The transmission of such public information about physiological state could have broad implications, potentially influencing the behavior and life-history traits of neighbors. North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) produce vocalizations known as rattles that advertise territorial ownership. We examined the influence of changes in physiological stress state on rattle acoustic structure through the application of a stressor (trapping and handling the squirrels) and by provisioning squirrels with exogenous glucocorticoids (GCs). We characterized the acoustic structure of rattles emitted by these squirrels by measuring rattle duration, mean frequency, and entropy. We found evidence that rattles do indeed exhibit a “stress signature.” When squirrels were trapped and handled, they produced rattles that were longer in duration with a higher frequency and increased entropy. However, squirrels that were administered exogenous GCs had similar rattle duration, frequency, and entropy as squirrels that were fed control treatments and unfed squirrels. Our results indicate that short-term stress does affect the acoustic structure of vocalizations, but elevated circulating GC levels do not mediate such changes.

scholarly journals Acoustic cues to individuality in wild male adult African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana)

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10736
Author(s):  
Kaja Wierucka ◽  
Michelle D. Henley ◽  
Hannah S. Mumby
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Individual Recognition ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Loxodonta Africana ◽  
Mature Male ◽  
Acoustic Cues ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Male Adult

The ability to recognize conspecifics plays a pivotal role in animal communication systems. It is especially important for establishing and maintaining associations among individuals of social, long-lived species, such as elephants. While research on female elephant sociality and communication is prevalent, until recently male elephants have been considered far less social than females. This resulted in a dearth of information about their communication and recognition abilities. With new knowledge about the intricacies of the male elephant social structure come questions regarding the communication basis that allows for social bonds to be established and maintained. By analyzing the acoustic parameters of social rumbles recorded over 1.5 years from wild, mature, male African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) we expand current knowledge about the information encoded within these vocalizations and their potential to facilitate individual recognition. We showed that social rumbles are individually distinct and stable over time and therefore provide an acoustic basis for individual recognition. Furthermore, our results revealed that different frequency parameters contribute to individual differences of these vocalizations.

scholarly journals Indirect effects on fitness between individuals that have never met via an extended phenotype

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Fisher ◽  
Jessica A. Haines ◽  
Stan Boutin ◽  
Ben Dantzer ◽  
Jeffrey E. Lane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
North American ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Tamiasciurus Hudsonicus ◽  
Extended Phenotype ◽  
Red Squirrels ◽  
Lifetime Fitness ◽  
The Past ◽  
North American Red Squirrels ◽  
The Individual

AbstractInteractions between organisms are ubiquitous and have important consequences for phenotypes and fitness. Individuals can even influence those they never meet, if they have extended phenotypes which mean the environments others experience are altered. North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) guard food hoards, an extended phenotype that typically outlives the individual and is almost always inherited by non relatives. Hoarding by previous owners can therefore influence subsequent owners. We found that red squirrels bred earlier and had higher lifetime fitness if the previous owner was a male. This was driven by hoarding behaviour, as males and mid-aged squirrels had the largest hoards, and these effects persisted across owners, such that if the previous owner was male or died in mid-age subsequent occupants had larger hoards. Individuals can, therefore, influence each other’s resource dependent traits and fitness without meeting via extended phenotypes, and so the past can influence contemporary population dynamics.

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