Call concatenation in wild meerkats

@article{Collier2017CallCI,
  title={Call concatenation in wild meerkats},
  author={Katie Collier and Simon W. Townsend and Marta B. Manser},
  journal={Animal Behaviour},
  year={2017},
  volume={134},
  pages={257-269}
}
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14 Citations
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14 Citations

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Call order within vocal sequences of meerkats contains temporary contextual and individual information
TLDR
This study investigates the composition and information content of sentinel call sequences in meerkats and presents a novel type of combinatoriality where the order of the call types contains temporary contextual information, and also relates to the identity of the caller.
Internal acoustic structuring in pied babbler recruitment cries specifies the form of recruitment
TLDR
Evidence is provided for internal “meaning-refining” acoustic variation within a larger stereotyped signal in pied babblers, lending support to the hypothesis that combinatorial structuring may have emerged in species with limited or fixed vocal repertoires in order to enhance communicative output.
Correlates of social role and conflict severity in wild vervet monkey agonistic screams
TLDR
It is suggested that acoustic variation might serve to reduce the aggression level of opponents, while simultaneously attracting potential helpers, after it was found that screams were both individually distinctive and dependent of the agonistic events.
Discrete call types referring to predation risk enhance the efficiency of the meerkat sentinel system
TLDR
It is shown that manipulation of perception of danger has different effects on the likelihood of emitting these different call types, and that these call types affect foraging individuals differently, and meerkats increase the efficiency of their sentinel system by producing several discrete call types that represent changes in predation risk and lead to adjustments of the group's vigilance behaviour.
Combinatoriality in the vocal systems of nonhuman animals.
TLDR
An overview of the current evidence for combinatorial structures found in the vocal system of diverse species is provided and it is suggested that a fine-grained classification and differentiation of combinatorsiality is a useful approach permitting systematic comparisons across animals.
Effect of group size and experience on the ontogeny of sentinel calling behaviour in meerkats
Vocal information and the navigation of social decisions in bats: Is social complexity linked to vocal complexity?
TLDR
It is suggested that social complexity drives vocal complexity in bats, and a positive feedback loop between social and vocal complexity for bat vocalizations is suggested, highlighting the importance of vocal information for negotiating fitness‐relevant social decisions of bats.
From collocations to call-ocations: using linguistic methods to quantify animal call combinations
TLDR
It is argued collocation analysis represents a promising tool for identifying non-random, communicatively relevant call combinations in animals by implementing it on a pseudo dataset.
Does Social Complexity Drive Vocal Complexity? Insights from the Two African Elephant Species
TLDR
It is proposed that life history traits, a factor that has gained little attention as a driver of vocal complexity, and the extensive parental care associated with a uniquely low and slow reproductive rate may have led to the emergence of pronounced vocal complexity in the forest elephant despite their less complex social system compared to the savanna elephant.
Experience of the signaller explains the use of social versus personal information in the context of sentinel behaviour in meerkats
TLDR
This study uses playbacks of individually distinct sentinel calming calls produced during sentinel behaviour, a form of coordinated vigilance behaviour, to show that meerkats discriminate between social information provided by different sentinels and adjust their personal vigilance behaviour according to the individual that is played back.
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