Searching for the Audience of the Weeping Lizard's Distress Call

Hoare, Misque; Labra, Antonieta

doi:10.1111/eth.12127

Cited by 19 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…From the five behavioral measurements recorded (Table ), only the latency to activity after the stimulus reflected a clear response to distress calls, as was previously reported (Hoare & Labra ). Staying immobile would allow individuals to remain undetected by the predator that is subduing a conspecific in the proximity, which can be particularly relevant for L. chiliensis , which tends to be highly cryptic in scrub branches, and movements may break this crypsis allowing predators to detect the lizards (e.g., Houtman & Dill ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

“…Individuals of L. chiliensis respond to conspecific distress calls with prolonged immobility (Hoare & Labra ), a reaction that may reduce their predation risk (e.g., Brodie ; Leal & Rodríguez‐Robles ; O'Keefe et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Call recordings were made at 35°C, the preferred body temperature of L. chiliensis (Labra et al. ), following a protocol previously used with this species (Hoare & Labra ; Labra et al. ).…”

Section: Playback Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

2016

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The weeping lizard, Liolaemus chiliensis, emits distress calls when trapped by a predator. Conspecific lizards respond to such calls with prolonged immobility, which may increase their probability of remaining undetected by a predator. This benefit, however, depends on the ability to react to the alert message of the call, which may be impaired by natural variation in the calls. The distress calls of L. chiliensis show geographic variation, and here we tested the response of two geographically distant populations (>700 km apart) to local (homotypic) and non‐local (heterotypic) distress calls; if populations are finely tuned to their local calls, they may not be able to respond to heterotypic calls. We found that geographic variation in calls affects the lizards’ response, but this effect was population dependent; whereas southern lizards responded to calls of both populations, the northern lizards only reacted to homotypic distress calls. The factors that determine this asymmetric response to heterotypic calls are unclear and we discuss three hypotheses that have a common component in the difference in body size between the tested populations, which seems to play a key role in determining the response to distress calls in this species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

2016

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“…Conversely, predators may be deterred by specific vocalizations, such as distress calls (Toledo, Sazima, & Haddad, ). This defensive signal may surprise and startle the predator (Hoare & Labra, ; Toledo & Haddad, ; Toledo, Sazima, & Haddad, ) during the capture and subjugation phases of predation (Endler, ). Such behaviour may provide sufficient time to allow the prey to escape (Bogert, ; Caro, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural response evoked by conspecific distress calls in two neotropical treefrogs

Forti

Márquez

et al. 2017

Ethology

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Anurans emit distress calls when attacked by predators as a defensive mechanism. As distress calls may trigger antipredator behaviour even in individuals that are not under attack, we tested whether this defensive behaviour induced behavioural changes in neighbouring conspecifics. We compared the behavioural responses of two species of Neotropical hylid frogs (genus Boana) to conspecific distress calls and white noise. Individuals of both species interrupted their vocal activity and decreased call rate after hearing the distress call. Natural variation on signal intensity calibrated among the nearest neighbours did not influence the response and we did not observe negative phonotaxis after any acoustic stimulus. Despite the fact that many predators are acoustically oriented, we could not determine if such response (reduced call rate) was induced by risk assessment or by the masking effect on advertisement calls. Boana faber responded similarly to white noise and distress calls, while B. bischoffi responded more intensely to distress calls. Duration of silence after playbacks in B. faber was longer than B. bischoffi. We suggest that, if the signals are interpreted as a risk cue by neighbouring conspecifics, each species may be preyed upon by different predators, as they may have led to distinct defensive strategies and different responses to distress calls. If risk assessment information is included in distress calls, it triggers behavioural responses only in the nearest neighbours, as we did not observe responses on the vocal activity of the interspecific chorus. Our results add relevant data about acoustic communication and interpretations by anurans, highlighting the importance of considering cues within common and widespread signals.

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“…At first glance, this behavior may seem like a simple expression of pain without a specific adaptive function, but empirical studies across animal taxa have indicated that this behavior may be an adaptive trait that has undergone evolutionary change through natural selection (e.g., Staton 1978;Perrone 1980;Högstedt 1983;GreigSmith 1984;Hödl and Gollmann 1986;Laiolo et al 2004Laiolo et al , 2007Russ et al 2004;Lingle et al 2007a;Blumstein et al 2008;Manno 2012;Hoare and Labra 2013;Løvlie et al 2014;Sepp et al 2014). Several hypotheses that are not mutually exclusive have been proposed to explain the adaptive function of screaming across animal taxa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitats matter: the incidence of and response to fear screams in a habitat generalist, the vinous-throated parrotbill Paradoxornis webbianus

Lee

Noh

et al. 2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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A fear scream is a specific vocalization produced by many animal taxa including humans when confronted with an immediate threat of death. We studied population variation in the incidence of fear screams and its correlation with habitat type using a habitat generalist bird species, the vinousthroated parrotbill (Paradoxornis webbianus). Playback experiments were also conducted to determine how conspecifics respond to scream calls in this species. Overall, about 21 % of parrotbills consistently produced fear screams while being handled. Neither morphological traits nor flock size was related to screaming tendency, but females tended to scream more than males. The propensity to scream also differed significantly between geographic groups, and, interestingly, this difference was closely related to habitat type; parrotbills in closed habitats such as reedbeds or mountain forests screamed more frequently than those in open habitats. Playback experiments showed that fear screams successfully elicited rapid vocal and behavioral responses from conspecifics. Consistent with the attraction hypothesis, our study suggests that fear screams may function to gather both conspecifics and other species around the caller, which may directly or indirectly disturb the predator, thus giving the caller a chance to escape. The benefits of screaming may be influenced by environmental (e.g., habitat type) and biological (e.g., body mass) factors, which may ultimately account for the variability in propensity for screaming within and between species.

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Searching for the Audience of the Weeping Lizard's Distress Call

Cited by 19 publications

References 49 publications

Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the Lizard Liolaemus chiliensis

Behavioural response evoked by conspecific distress calls in two neotropical treefrogs

Habitats matter: the incidence of and response to fear screams in a habitat generalist, the vinous-throated parrotbill Paradoxornis webbianus

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