TY - JOUR
T1 - Alarm signals of the great gerbil
T2 - Acoustic variation by predator context, sex, age, individual, and family group
AU - Randall, Jan A.
AU - Mccowan, Brenda
AU - Collins, Kellie C.
AU - Hooper, Stacie L.
AU - Rogovin, Konstantin
PY - 2005/10
Y1 - 2005/10
N2 - The great gerbil, Rhombomys opinus, is a highly social rodent that usually lives in family groups consisting of related females, their offspring, and an adult male. The gerbils emit alarm vocalizations in the presence of diverse predators with different hunting tactics. Alarm calls were recorded in response to three predators, a monitor lizard, hunting dog, and human, to determine whether the most common call type, the rhythmic call, is functionally referential with regard to type of predator. Results show variation in the alarm calls of both adults and subadults with the type of predator. Discriminant function analysis classified an average of 70% of calls to predator type. Call variation, however, was not limited to the predator context, because signal structure also differed by sex, age, individual callers, and family groups. These variations illustrate the flexibility of the rhythmic alarm call of the great gerbil and how it might have multiple functions and communicate in multiple contexts. Three alarm calls, variation in the rhythmic call, and vibrational signals generated from foot-drumming provide the gerbils with a varied and multi-channel acoustic repertoire.
AB - The great gerbil, Rhombomys opinus, is a highly social rodent that usually lives in family groups consisting of related females, their offspring, and an adult male. The gerbils emit alarm vocalizations in the presence of diverse predators with different hunting tactics. Alarm calls were recorded in response to three predators, a monitor lizard, hunting dog, and human, to determine whether the most common call type, the rhythmic call, is functionally referential with regard to type of predator. Results show variation in the alarm calls of both adults and subadults with the type of predator. Discriminant function analysis classified an average of 70% of calls to predator type. Call variation, however, was not limited to the predator context, because signal structure also differed by sex, age, individual callers, and family groups. These variations illustrate the flexibility of the rhythmic alarm call of the great gerbil and how it might have multiple functions and communicate in multiple contexts. Three alarm calls, variation in the rhythmic call, and vibrational signals generated from foot-drumming provide the gerbils with a varied and multi-channel acoustic repertoire.
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U2 - 10.1121/1.2031973
DO - 10.1121/1.2031973
M3 - Article
C2 - 16266190
AN - SCOPUS:26844433009
VL - 118
SP - 2706
EP - 2714
JO - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
JF - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
SN - 0001-4966
IS - 4
ER -