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Information in a long-distance vocal signal: chorus howling in the coyote (canis latrans)

Hallberg, Karen Irene
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189626727

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology.
Fighting can be extremely costly in terms of energy use and potential for injury or death. Therefore, the ability to accurately assess a threat is advantageous, allowing an animal to retreat from conflict if its chances of winning are low. Game-theoretical models of agonistic behavior suggest that animals should base decisions about conflict escalation on an assessment of their opponent’s fighting ability or resource-holding potential (RHP). Individuals can assess an opponent’s fighting ability relative to their own using a number of physical and behavioral cues. Some aggressive displays, including some vocalizations, are believed to function as such cues, or advertisement displays, of an animal’s RHP. Studies of advertisement displays have typically focused on contests between individuals. However, just as correct assessment of a rival is advantageous in conflict-escalation decisions between individuals, it might be expected that correct assessment of group size would be an important criterion in determining potential costs in contests between groups. Social animals would benefit from accurate perception of group size when assessing the fighting ability or RHP of a competing group in the same way that individual competitors benefit from assessment of their single competitor’s size and strength. A number of studies have been published in recent years investigating group-level assessment in agonistic contests. These studies have focused on territorial vocal signals of various group-living species to determine whether competing groups glean information about group size from these acoustic signals and adjust their behavior in a manner consistent with the predictions of game-theoretical models of agonistic behavior. The goal of this thesis research was to determine whether group-size information is available in the group yip-howl of the coyote. The approach to this investigation was two-fold: a) conduct a field experiment with radio-collared coyotes and measure their movement and vocal responses to playbacks of group yip-howl recordings from different-sized groups, and b) analyze the acoustic features of the coyote group yip-howl. The aim of the field playback experiment was to measure the responses of coyotes to the agonistic vocalizations of a potential competing group. Acoustic features of the coyote group yip-howl were analyzed to better understand the potential cues contained in the signal that might allow for the perception of group size.
Douglas Nelson (Advisor)
160 p.
Biology, Zoology
coyote; canis; latrans; vocalization; vocal behavior; bioacoustics; mammal; howl; group size

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hallberg, K. I. (2007). Information in a long-distance vocal signal: chorus howling in the coyote (canis latrans) [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189626727

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hallberg, Karen. Information in a long-distance vocal signal: chorus howling in the coyote (canis latrans). 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189626727.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hallberg, Karen. "Information in a long-distance vocal signal: chorus howling in the coyote (canis latrans)." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1189626727

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.