Cougar (Puma concolor) vocalization and frequency shift as a playback response

Macarrão, Arthur; Corbo, Milena; Araújo, Carlos Barros de

doi:10.1590/s1676-06032012000300015

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…However, in substantially smaller felids of the genus Felis , the maximum f0 of intense mew calls varies from 260 to 710 Hz between species and subspecies (Nicastro, 2004; Peters et al, 2009). Some anecdotal evidences suggest that wild cougars Puma concolor produce both high‐frequency (maximum f0 over 4000 Hz, Allen et al, 2016) and low‐frequency (430 Hz Macarrão et al, 2012) long‐distance calls. Overall, the evident lack of the negative relationship between fundamental frequency of long‐distance calls and body size is reminiscent of the situation with rutting calls in red deer Cervus elaphus , in which f0 varies 10 times between subspecies (Volodin et al, 2013, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advertising sex and individual identity by long‐distance chirps in wild‐living mature cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)

et al. 2023

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Adult cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) use long‐distance chirps for calling toward coalition partners (males), mates (both sexes), and cubs (females). Previously, these vocalizations were only investigated in captivity. This study estimates individual and sex‐related acoustic variation of the long‐distance chirps of 20 mature cheetahs (eight males and 12 females older than 4 years) in their natural habitats in Kenya. Male chirps were longer in duration and lower in the peak frequency and all fundamental frequency variables than female chirps. The average value for assignment of the chirps to correct sex with Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) of 93.8% was significantly higher than by‐chance level of 52.9%. The average value of correct assignment of the chirps to individual with DFA was 79.5%, which was significantly higher than the level by chance of 14.8%. For 10 cheetahs recorded twice with time space of one or 2 years, DFA showed high values of correct assignment of the chirps to individual for both years (91.4% in the first year and 83.9% in the second year of recording), but cross‐validation of the chirps recorded in the second year by discriminant functions created for the chirps of the first year showed a dramatic decrease of correct assignment to the level expected by chance (27.2%). We discuss that long‐distance chirps of wild mature cheetahs provide reliable cues to sex and may also encode caller individuality, although this is not stable over time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advertising sex and individual identity by long‐distance chirps in wild‐living mature cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)

et al. 2023

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“…Adult 7–10‐year‐old captive pumas produced high‐frequency long‐distance calls, belonging to three call types: meows, main calls and whistle by classification of Peters (1978), with f0max of 1.09–1.45 kHz and duration of 0.30–0.70 s (Potter, 2005). However, in the wild, pumas responded to playbacks of their own calls by calls with f0max of 0.43 kHz and duration of 0.60 s (Macarrão et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, in pumas and cheetahs, in which the vocal pads are lacking and the larynx is not descended (Hast, 1989;Peters & Hast, 1994;Weissengruber et al, 2002Weissengruber et al, , 2008 the distant calls are tonal and highfrequency. In the puma, the distant calls are high-frequency meows (Allen et al, 2016;Macarrão et al, 2012;Peters, 2011;Potter, 2005); in the cheetah, the distant calls are high-frequency chirps (Chelysheva et al, 2023;Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1998;Smirnova et al, 2016;Volodina, 2000). For all age categories of cheetahs, a common context for the production of their long-distance chirps is loss of contact with conspecifics and advertising own location to resume spatial proximity or to establish a novel contact (Chelysheva et al, 2023;Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1998;Smirnova et al, 2016;Volodina, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic features of long‐distance calls of wild cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are linked to the caller age from newborns to adults

Klenova,

Chelysheva,

Vasilieva

et al. 2023

Ethology

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Wild cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus of all age classes, from newborns to adults, use their long‐distance chirps for communication with conspecifics. We investigated the ontogenetic changes of eight acoustic parameters of the chirps produced by wild‐living cheetahs across 14 age classes in Kenya. Chirp maximum fundamental frequency (f0max) was found to be best acoustic correlate of cheetah age. The f0max was the highest in neonates (up to 10 kHz), then decreased steadily across age classes and reached a plateau of about 1 kHz in mature adults older than 4 years. Based on a close relationship of f0max with age, we fitted polynomial models for estimating cheetah age by their chirps. We discuss that gradual changes of chirp f0max suggest the gradual development of cheetah vocal apparatus. Model for age estimation by chirps in the cheetah proposed in this study may provide conservationists a non‐invasive bioacoustic tool for estimating cheetah age, particularly at ages younger than 4 years. However, introducing more data from cheetahs of precisely known age would be necessary for obtaining more accurate results of age determination by voice for the older individuals.

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“…These differences could be explained, in part, by the vocal behaviour of the predator: with the exception of some predatory birds, most predators do not vocalize while hunting (Barrera et al 2011 ), which can represent a lack of opportunity to learn a predator’s call. For example, mule deer do not respond to playbacks of mountain lions, but do respond to playbacks of coyote calls; this could be due to the fact that felids, contrary to canids, are mostly solitary and vocalize on rare, specific occasions (Smallwood 1993 ; Macarrão et al 2012 ; Leuchtenberger et al 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of predator model presentation paradigms on titi monkey alarm sequences

Berthet

Mesbahi

Cäsar

et al. 2022

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Predator presentation experiments are widely used to investigate animal alarm vocalizations. They usually involve presentations of predator models or playbacks of predator calls, but it remains unclear whether the two paradigms provide similar results, a major limitation when investigating animal syntactic and semantic capacities. Here, we investigate whether visual and acoustic predator cues elicit different vocal reactions in black-fronted titi monkeys (Callicebus nigrifrons). We exposed six groups of wild titi monkeys to visual models or playbacks of vocalizations of raptor or felid. We characterized each group’s vocal reactions using sequence parameters known to reliably encode predatory events in this species. We found that titi monkeys’ vocal reactions varied with the predator species but also with the experimental paradigm: while vocal reactions to raptor vocalizations and models were similar, felid vocalizations elicited heterogeneous, different reactions from that given to felid models. We argue that subjects are not familiar with felid vocalizations, because of a lack of learning opportunities due to the silent behaviour of felids. We discuss the implication of these findings for the semantic capacities of titi monkeys. We finally recommend that playbacks of predator vocalizations should not be used in isolation but in combination with visual model presentations, to allow fine-grained analyses of the communication system of prey species. Significance statement It is common to present prey species with predator models or predator calls to study their vocal reactions. The two paradigms are often used independently, but it remains unclear whether they provide similar results. Here, we studied the vocal reactions of titi monkeys to calls and models of raptors and felids. We show that titi monkeys seem to recognize the vocalizations of raptors but not those of felids. The study of the vocal reactions emitted when titi monkeys cannot clearly identify the threat allows us to draw accurate hypotheses about the meaning of titi monkeys’ alarm utterances. We argue that playbacks of predator calls should be used in conjunction with model presentations, which can allow us to better investigate the information and the structure of the alarm systems.

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Cougar (Puma concolor) vocalization and frequency shift as a playback response

Cited by 7 publications

References 11 publications

Advertising sex and individual identity by long‐distance chirps in wild‐living mature cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)

Advertising sex and individual identity by long‐distance chirps in wild‐living mature cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)

Acoustic features of long‐distance calls of wild cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are linked to the caller age from newborns to adults

Impact of predator model presentation paradigms on titi monkey alarm sequences

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