scholarly journals Social behaviour and vocalizations of the tent-roosting Honduran white bat

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0248452
Author(s):  
Ahana Aurora Fernandez ◽  
Christian Schmidt ◽  
Stefanie Schmidt ◽  
Bernal Rodríguez-Herrera ◽  
Mirjam Knörnschild
Keyword(s):  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Group Stability ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interesting Candidate ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Contact Calls

Bats are highly gregarious animals, displaying a large spectrum of social systems with different organizational structures. One important factor shaping sociality is group stability. To maintain group cohesion and stability, bats often rely on vocal communication. The Honduran white bat, Ectophylla alba, exhibits an unusual social structure compared to other tent-roosting species. This small white-furred bat lives in perennial stable mixed-sex groups. Tent construction requires several individuals and, as the only tent roosting species so far, involves both sexes. The bats´ social system and ecology render this species an interesting candidate to study social behaviour and vocal communication. In our study, we investigated the social behaviour and vocalizations of E. alba in the tent by observing two stable groups, including pups, in the wild. We documented 16 different behaviours, among others play and fur chewing, a behaviour presumably used for scent-marking. Moreover, we found 10 distinct social call types in addition to echolocation calls, and for seven call types we were able to identify the corresponding broad behavioural context. Most of the social call types were affiliative, including two types of contact calls, maternal directive calls, pup isolation calls and a call type related to the fur-chewing behaviour. In sum, this study entails an ethogram and describes the social vocalizations of a tent-roosting phyllostomid bat, providing the basis for further in-depth studies about the sociality and vocal communication in E. alba.

scholarly journals Social behaviour and vocalizations of the tent-roosting Honduran White Bat

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahana Aurora Fernandez ◽  
Christian Schmidt ◽  
Stefanie Schmidt ◽  
Bernal Rodríguez-Herrera ◽  
Mirjam Knörnschild
Keyword(s):  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Group Stability ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interesting Candidate ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Contact Calls

Bats are highly gregarious animals, displaying a large spectrum of social systems with different organizational structures. One important factor shaping sociality is group stability. To maintain group cohesion and stability, bats often rely on social vocal communication. The Honduran white bat, Ectophylla alba exhibits an unusual social structure compared to other tent-roosting species. This small white-furred bat lives in perennial stable mixed-sex groups. Tent construction requires several individuals and, as the only tent roosting species so far, involves both sexes. The bats´ social system and ecology render this species an interesting candidate to study social behaviour and social vocal communication. In our study, we investigated the social behaviour and vocalizations of E. alba in the tent by observing two stable groups, including pups, in the wild. We documented 16 different behaviours, among others, play and fur chewing, a behaviour presumably used for scent-marking. Moreover, we found 10 distinct social call types in addition to echolocation calls, and, for seven call types, we were able to identify the corresponding behavioural context. Most of the social call types were affiliative, including two types of contact calls, maternal directives, pup isolation calls and a call type related to the fur-chewing behaviour. In sum, this study entails an ethogram and describes the first vocal repertoire of a tent-roosting phyllostomid bat, providing the basis for further in-depth studies about the sociality and vocal communication in E. alba .

scholarly journals Exploring the Adaptive Significance of Five Types of Puma (Puma concolor) Vocalizations

2017 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian L Allen ◽  
Yiwei Wang ◽  
Christopher C Wilmers
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Indirect Cues ◽  
Limit Detection

Communication is a central component of animal behaviour, yet communicative behaviours are poorly studied due to their complexity and varied functions. Pumas (Puma concolor) are wide-ranging, solitary felids that primarily use indirect cues (e.g., scent marking) for communication. Because these cryptic carnivores are rarely observed directly, little is known about their vocalizations in the wild. We recorded a variety of Puma vocalizations among females and family groups using motion-triggered video cameras and then attempted to understand the function of each vocalization. We found two categories of vocalizations: 1) attention-attracting (caterwauling and mewing), and 2) calls (contact, agitated, and alarm). Vocalizations to attract attention ranged across broad frequencies. Contact, agitated, and alarm calls are narrow-frequency vocalizations that varied in intensity and were used to communicate with nearby conspecifics. Vocal communication entails risk, and while some Puma vocalizations may provide benefits that outweigh their risk, others are structured to limit detection and risk. These observations highlight the importance of the structure of vocalizations used during different behaviours to understand their adaptive significance.

Female Dominance and Social Structure in Alaotran Gentle Lemurs

Behaviour ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (10) ◽  
pp. 1235-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Spatial Configuration ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Aggressive Interactions ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
The Social ◽  
Hapalemur Griseus ◽  
Group Movements

AbstractLemur social systems have the striking social feature, that adult females consistently evoke submissive behaviour of adult males. In the Alaotran gentle lemur, Hapalemur griseus alaotrensis, however, female dominance has not been studied yet. Here we confirm female dominance over males on the basis of a 5-month field study of the social behaviour of four groups, in the Lake Alaotra marshland of eastern Madagascar. Further, we found that dominant individuals initiated aggressive interactions significantly more often than lowerranking ones, they initiated group movements more often and higher-ranking individuals were groomed more often. The spatial configuration was remarkable, since individuals were closer in space to those more distant in rank.

An Analysis of the Social Behaviour of the Male Laboratory Rat

Behaviour ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 21 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 260-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.C. Grant
Keyword(s):  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Home Cage ◽  
Expected Value ◽  
The Other ◽  
Approach And Avoidance ◽  
Laboratory Rat ◽  
The Social ◽  
In The Wild

AbstractAn analysis is made of the social behaviour of the male laboratory rat using the following methods. One rat is introduced into the home cage of another. One observer records the series of elements shown by each rat. These results are tabulated in sequence tables of elements. The tables are analysed by calculating an "expected" value for each cell and comparing this with the observed value. An ethogram is built up showing the relationships of the elements seen when the rats are close together and indicating the possible motivation of these elements in terms of the interaction of Aggression and Flight. It is shown that the Flight motivated elements fall into two groups, one leading to Crouch and the other leading to Submissive Posture. The occurrence of grooming and digging as displacement activities is shown and is contrasted to the occurrence of mounting which appears to be separately aroused in male-male situations. A group of elements occurring when the rats are at a distance from each other, and showing conflict between approach and avoidance, is described. It is suggested that there are two main Flight pathways, one leading to a Submissive Posture and the other to Crouch or Retreat, the occurrence of these is related to two types of behaviour seen in the wild, intra-colonial and territorial. Finally, the possible occurrence of an Approach component other than Aggression or Mating, which might be called a social drive, is suggested.

scholarly journals Males are more sensitive to their audience than females when scent-marking in the redfronted lemur

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Rachel Peckre ◽  
Alexandra Michiels ◽  
Lluìs Socias-Martìnez ◽  
Peter M. Kappeler ◽  
Claudia Fichtel
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Olfactory Communication ◽  
Exponential Random Graph Models ◽  
Audience Effects ◽  
Exponential Random Graph ◽  
The Social ◽  
Opposite Sex

Audience effects, i.e. changes in behaviour caused by the presence of conspecifics, have rarely been studied in the context of olfactory communication, even though they may provide important insights into the functions of olfactory signals. Functional sex differences in scent-marking behaviours are common and influenced by the social system. To date, patterns of functional sex differences in scent-marking behaviours remain unknown in species without overt dominance relationships. We investigated sex differences in intra-group audience effects on anogenital scent-marking in a wild population of redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) by performing focal scent-marking observations. With a combination of generalised linear mixed models and exponential random graph models, we found different audience effects in both sexes. Males were overall more sensitive than females to their audience. Only males seemed to be sensitive to the presence of both members of the opposite sex and same-sex conspecifics in the audience. Females were only moderately sensitive to the presence of other females in the audience. This study offers a potential behavioural pattern associated with anogenital scent-marking that seem to differ from those described for species exhibiting female dominance, supporting the notion that the social systems co-varies with scent-marking behaviours and scent-complexity in strepsirrhines.

scholarly journals Theoretical considerations over trust: relevant aspects for organizational behaviour

Psicologia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Ana Cristina Costa
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Organizational Behaviour ◽  
New Information ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theoretical Considerations ◽  
Level Of Analysis

The concept of trust has been studied by a large number of scholars from various scientific backgrounds. Trust has showed to play a major role in social relations, organizations, political systems, economic transactions and even in human-computer interaction. Many scholars appear united with respect to the importance of trust as a “public good”, necessary for the success of many economic transactions. Lewis and Weigert (1985, p.968) suggest that “trust is indispensable in social relationships”. Zucker (1986, p.56) followed with the statement that trust is “vital for the maintenance of cooperation in society and necessary as grounds for even the most routine, everyday interaction.” Luhmann (1980, p.4) goes further by arguing that trust is necessary to reduce complexity in the social systems, “absence of trust would prevent him (individual) from getting up in the morning”. Although the importance of trust has been acknowledged, its study remains problematic for several reasons. Since trust is a basic factor for the understanding of human conduct, its study is not restricted to a particular level of analysis. In the literature we find trust related to individuals, interpersonal relations, organizational structures, economic transactions and societies as a whole. In these contexts, several definitions have been proposed causing considerable confusion among researchers. However the earlier work has not been wasted. Each definition proposed, even with the limitations of its own approach, provides new information, adds insight and understanding to the meaning of trust. The fact that trust can be studied at different levels (individuals, groups and societies) and in different contexts, points out the relevancy of a multilevel analysis as well a simultaneous consideration of the context, in order to develop a meaningful framework for the study of trust (Rousseau, Stikin, Burt and Carmer, 1998).DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17575/rpsicol.v13i1/2.561

scholarly journals THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF CONTACT CALLS BY ROOKS (CORVUS FRUGILEGUS)

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-44
Author(s):  
Alexandru MUNTEANU ◽  
Ionel PAPUC ◽  
Ira FEDERSPIEL ◽  
Nicola CLAYTON ◽  
Nathan EMERY
Keyword(s):  
Information Exchange ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Visual Contact ◽  
Physical Isolation ◽  
Corvus Frugilegus ◽  
The Social ◽  
Contact Calls ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Interspecific Barriers

Communication is the link between individuals of one species and represents the essence of social life. Vocal communication is one of the most studied forms of information exchange, although it also comes with interspecific barriers that are still tricky to overcome. While we are able to understand the meaning of another human’s words, we fail to understand an animal’s utterances. Among these, bird song has become a field of particular interest. However, little is known yet about many species’ vocalizations, and even less about their significance or how different factors influence them. The presented study establishes the vocal repertoire of a group of rooks and further investigates the importance of contact calls between partners in an experiment. We found that test subjects and other group members produced more contact calls after than before partners had been separated from each other, indicating stress induced by physical isolation and/or the lack of visual contact as an important factor influencing the call frequency. Separating certain individuals seemed to affect the group differently, which indicates that the ‘importance’ of the animal to the group influences the group call rate. In this study, we have shown how social and environmental factors play a role in vocal communication in birds.

The Social Behaviour of Captive Northern Quolls, Dasyurus hallucatus.

1995 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
E.R. Dempster
Keyword(s):  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Aggressive Behaviour ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Exploratory Behaviour ◽  
Agonistic Behaviour ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Test Arena ◽  
The Social ◽  
Marking Behaviour ◽  
Fighting Behaviour

Thirty-one staged interactions between male-male, female-female and male-female pairs of captive Dasyurus hallucatus were video recorded. No contact-promoting behaviour such as huddling or allogrooming was observed. Animals performed solitary exploration of the test arena, were inactive, performed olfactory investigation and scent-marking, watched or reacted to the opponent with agonistic behaviour. Two threat postures were identified: a "straight threat" was positively correlated with submissive behaviour and indicated a defensive motivation. A "shuffle threat" was associated with aggressive behaviour and indicated an offensive motivation. Hissing vocalizations were associated with threatening behaviour, particularly straight threatening. Sniffing vocalizations were associated with agonistic behaviour. Squawks were always associated with attacking and fighting. Behaviour differed significantly among encounter types. Males performed more agonistic behaviour and less exploratory behaviour than females in same-sex encounters. In male-female encounters, females displayed more submissive and less sniff/marking behaviour than males. D. hallucatus conform to observations that most dasyurid species are solitary and asocial.

Individual performance in socio-cognitive tasks predicts social behaviour in carrion crows

Behaviour ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 152 (5) ◽  
pp. 615-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia A.F. Wascher
Keyword(s):  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Intelligence Hypothesis ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Performance

The social intelligence hypothesis links the evolution of exceptional cognitive skills to the requirements of complex social systems. Empirical evidence of a connection between cognitive skills and social behaviour on an individual level is lacking. I investigated how cognitive performance in carrion crows correlates with social behaviour. Social behaviour was observed and crows were tested in four tasks previously published elsewhere: qualitative exchange, quantity preference, inequity aversion, heterospecific recognition. I describe correlations between an individuals’ involvement in affiliative and aggressive encounters and performance during these different cognitive tasks. For example, individuals performing better in the qualitative exchange task received more approaches and affiliative interactions. There was a correlation between birds choosing higher quantities during testing and their propensity to initiate aggressive and affiliative interactions with others. Overall these results show a link between social behaviour and individual performance in cognitive tasks.

New research frameworks in the study of chimpanzee and gorilla sociality and communication

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam G. B. Roberts ◽  
Anna Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Social Evolution ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
The Social ◽  
Human Social Evolution ◽  
Research Frameworks ◽  
New Research ◽  
Large Groups

Group size in primates is strongly correlated with brain size, but exactly what makes larger groups more ‘socially complex’ than smaller groups is still poorly understood. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are among our closest living relatives and are excellent model species to investigate patterns of sociality and social complexity in primates, and to inform models of human social evolution. The aim of this paper is to propose new research frameworks, particularly the use of social network analysis, to examine how social structure differs in small, medium and large groups of chimpanzees and gorillas, to explore what makes larger groups more socially complex than smaller groups. Given a fission-fusion system is likely to have characterised hominins, a comparison of the social complexity involved in fission-fusion and more stable social systems is likely to provide important new insights into human social evolution

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