02337nas a2200265   4500008004100000022001300041245009700054210006900151260001600220300001200236490000800248520152600256653002201782653001901804653001601823653002101839653001801860653002801878653001401906653002001920100001901940700002401959700002201983856006602005       2017                        eng d  a0003347200aDwarf mongooses use sex and identity cues in isolation calls to discriminate between callers0 aDwarf mongooses use sex and identity cues in isolation calls to   cJan-05-2017  a23 - 310 v1273 a<p>The information transmitted by acoustic signals has attracted much scientific interest in recent years. However, isolation calls, which are long-distance vocalizations used by lost group members to reunite with their social group, have been surprisingly neglected. These calls assist in maintaining group cohesion and are thus particularly important in species that depend on the group for survival or reproduction such as cooperative breeders. Our study therefore examined the information transmitted by the isolation vocalization in a wild cooperatively breeding carnivore: the dwarf mongoose, Helogale parvula. We ran an acoustic analysis for informative cues within isolation calls, and conducted a series of playback experiments to identify whether mongooses could discriminate between callers based on these cues. The acoustic structure of dwarf mongoose isolation vocalizations contained information concerning the caller&#39;s identity, sex and potentially also group membership. Target mongooses discriminated between callers of their own and other groups and biased their response based on the sex of the caller. They responded more quickly and for longer, and approached more closely, for calls of foreign females than calls of female group mates. This is the first time that sex specificity has been demonstrated in the vocalization of an herpestid, and we suggest that dwarf mongooses eavesdrop on the calls of isolated foreigners and may use isolation calls to attract and identify potential mates.</p>
10aacoustic analysis10adwarf mongoose10afamiliarity10aHelogale parvula10aindividuality10aisolation vocalizations10aplaybacks10asex specificity1 aRubow, Janneke1 aCherry, Michael, I.1 aSharpe, Lynda, L.  uhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S000334721730066002611nas a2200253   4500008004100000022001300041245011700054210006900171260001600240300001100256490000800267520180900275653002202084653002102106653001902127653002502146653002102171653001202192653002202204100001902226700002402245700002202269856006602291       2017                        eng d  a0003347200aCalling for help: dwarf mongoose recruitment calls inform receivers about context and elicit disparate responses0 aCalling for help dwarf mongoose recruitment calls inform receive  cJan-05-2017  a7 - 140 v1273 a<p>Social complexity and communicative complexity appear to have coevolved in terrestrial vertebrates. Understanding the information conveyed within the social signals of group-living taxa can illuminate the selection pressures impacting on a species and help to identify the factors promoting sociality. Within vocal communication, recruitment calls are of great importance to many social species, helping to maintain group cohesion and facilitating cooperative behaviour. Yet recruitment vocalizations have received limited scientific attention and it is not clear whether they convey context-specific information to receivers. We investigated the recruitment calls of wild dwarf mongooses, Helogale parvula, to ascertain whether they showed context-specific acoustic differences and whether receivers displayed context-specific responses to recruitment calls in the absence of external cues. We recorded recruitment calls (from four wild groups of dwarf mongooses) from two contexts: when an individual became separated from its group and when an individual encountered a snake. Acoustic analysis revealed that calls from the two contexts differed in acoustic structure and were distinguishable with a discriminant function analysis. Playbacks of calls from both contexts successfully recruited target mongooses, but snake calls elicited a stronger reaction (with mongooses vigilant for longer and approaching the speaker more closely). More importantly, target mongooses also displayed behaviours that were unique to call context, exhibiting head bobbing, creeping and searching of the vegetation during snake call playbacks but never during isolation call playbacks. We conclude that dwarf mongoose recruitment calls refer to context and are perceived as functionally referential by receivers.</p>
10aacoustic analysis10acontext-specific10adwarf mongoose10afunctional reference10aHelogale parvula10amobbing10arecruitment calls1 aRubow, Janneke1 aCherry, Michael, I.1 aSharpe, Lynda, L.  uhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347217300659