Department of Zoology

Mid Term Assignment

Course code: ZOL-510 Course name: Animal Behavior

Due date: Submission date: 30/04/2020
Course teacher: Dr. Khalid Mukhtar Student name: Hafsa Yaqoob
Student ID: MZOF19M037 Semester: 2nd
Program: MSc Zoology Main campus
Regular/ self-support: Regular

Assignment cover sheet

Title of the assignment: Function of Communication
Word count: 3097
Marks awarded by teacher:
CONTENTS:

Introduction
Definition of communication

Passages for communication

 Auditory communication
 Visionary communication
 Chemical senses
 Substrate vibratory communication
 Touch communication
 Electrical communication
 Vocal communication
 Gustatory communication

Multimodal communication
Functions of communication
 Species recognition
 Mate attraction
 Courtship and mating
 Maintaining social bonds
 Alarming situation
 Aggregation
 Agonistic encounters
 Communication about resources
 Body movements
 Group selection
 Echolocation
 Runaway selection
 Sociobiology
 Pair bond
 Play face
Overview:
The animal communication system, states the process through which animals can
communicate each other. One individual can communicate to other individual of same
species and transfers their signal toward individuals of different specie or to humans. Animals
do not have language to communicate each other like humans. However, use different other
methods to communicate in surroundings and make contact to other species.

Definition of communication:
Definition of communication is difficult to describe.
“One individual that is called sender produce a signals into their surroundings that contains
information which they want to express and these signals are detected by other individual that
is called receiver.” (Bateau 1968).
By utilizing this method, animals effectively survive in ecosystem.
Many examples are present that specifies the method of communication. Such as courtship
dance of male crane, dance of bees informing the presence of food, the growl and barred teeth
of wolf all describes the process of communication.

Passages for communication:

Animals contains variety of channels for communication.
These are listed below:
• Auditory communication
• Visionary communication
• Chemical senses
• Substrate vibratory communication
• Touch communication
• Electrical communication
• Vocal communication
• Gustatory communication

Auditory communication:
Sound signals are very adventitious. They can travel a long distance in short interval
of time. Auditory signals also travel in water rapidly. Production of sound signals depends on
type of animal and type of signal, which it produced (Feng et al, 2006).

Visionary communication:
Visual communication is produced is eyes. It has two specific properties. First is that,
if receiver can see the signal, the location of sender becomes easily known. Second property
is rapid flow and transmission of the signal. Many light producing animals produce visual
signals in night. For example, bats and owls produce visual communication in night or in
darker region to produce light (Delgado and Penteriani 2007).

Chemical senses:
Chemical communication include signals of smell and taste. These are involved in
transmission of odor from sender to receiver (Wyatt 2003).
Animals used these signals to confine their territories by releasing chemicals through their
body parts. Such as pheromones released by many animals (Wyatt 2003).
Substrate communication:
Sender on substrate produces several types of vibrations. Receiver detects these
vibrations. These signals are called seismic signals (Hill 2001).
These vibrations contain many type of pattern. For example, vibrations produced by kangaroo
rat on a substrate by drumming its foot to confine its territory (Randall and Lewis 1997).

Touch communication:
Tactile signals are produced by touching of the receiver. This method can transmit
signals very quickly. For example, Honey bee after locating food, informs its other nest mates
through tactile communication. Honeybee produced different dancing patterns. Tactile
communication also depends upon type of touch produced by sender (e.g., rubbing, pinching,
massaging). Receiver on responding area detects the frequency (Hartenstein et al, 2006).

Electrical communication:
Electrical communication is produced by releasing electrical waves. This
phenomenon is present in many fishes. These fishes can detect their prey by using the
electrical signals. For example, fresh water eel and starfish produce electric waves to capture
their prey (Tinbergen 1953).

Vocal communication:
In this type, signals are produced by releasing several calls. For example, male frog
produced mating calls to attract female, when becomes mature and ready to mate. Vocal calls
are very louder and could be heard at several distance (Bullock et al, 2005).

Physical communication:
This communication type is produced by displaying body parts and body movements.
These also represent the behavior of animal to confine its territory and showing matting
behavior (Herring Gull 2003).

Multimodal communication:
Animals always do not use single type of communication signal. However,
sometimes, animals use more than one type of sensory modalities. This type of
communication is called multimodal communication. In this process signal, occur
simultaneously or rapidly (Partan and Marler 2005). An example of multimodal
communication, consider the courtship behavior of male brush legged wolf spiders (Gibson
and Utez 2008; Utez and Robert 2002; Utez et al 2002). Male convey both visual and seismic
signals to attract female by displaying their bodies in jerky-trapping manner.

Functions of communication:
There are many types of communication, which represents several forms of social
behavior of animals. This communication system enables these animals to survive in nature
effectively. Signals released in environment in many ways. Sometimes, signal are released to
a group that show the bonding between the groups. However, sometimes, signals are released
to keep another species away from any area. It all depends upon type of signals released by
an individual. Therefore, communication of animals have many functions, which are
described below:
Species recognition:
Communication signals are utilized to recognize the species. Individual show its
response only to those signals that are released by individual of the same species. Signals
released by other species does not attract these individuals. For example, a male chickadee
give no any response to a song of a gray-crowned rosy finch but ultimately the response calls
of male chickadee increases in response to a song of another chickadee (Charrier and Sturdy
2005). Another example is different types of crabs present on a beach. Some studies revealed
that 12 species of crabs are present on a beach side. These produced signals through flipping
action. Every specie produced different signal that is only detected by the crab of the same
specie (Gwynne and Rentz 1983).

Mate attraction:
Some animals live most of their time alone. Therefore, they face the problem of
locating other individual of their interest when they are ready to breed. For this behavior,
animals use different chemical and auditory signals to locate or identify the desired one.
Chemicals released may be in the form of pheromones. Attraction signals are very strong so
that, the receiver can easily locate the sender territory from a long distances even that if
individuals are widely distributed. For example, female silk moth release pheromones that are
detected by the male silk moth through wind blowing in that direction from 100 m away.
Auditory signals depending upon their frequency, also very important to attract other
individual. For example, songs of many birds, crickets and vocal sounds of frog attract their
mates from long distances. In one experiment, male was displaced 46 km away from a female
but still male easily recognize that newly hatched female after sensing sex attracting
pheromones released by a female (Immelmann 1980).

Courtship and Mating:

Communication system has a function to identify the proper mate and also identify
the mate quality, show behavior and physiology of a mate and maintain bond between
individuals after mating.
Identification of opposite sex:
Opposite sex is identified by physical movements. In some species, male and female
have very different appearance and show different behavior patterns. For example, when a
female stickle back arrive in a male territory, it show its body by moving its head up, that
shows its enlarged abdomen and reduce the possibility to attack of male (Tinbergen 1952). In
some species male and female, look alike. For example, male blue ring octopuses resembles
to a female octopuses. These are distinguished from each other during mating season when
they show different body movements.
Male assessment:
It is very important function of communication in which female identifies the male
best for her. Male assessment show the male quality that either it suits for a female or not.
Female for her reproductive success uses it. Courtship behaviors provides information about
male quality. For example, male common terns catch a fish for female before mating. It
shows that how much male is able to provide the food to its off springs, provide shelter, and
protect them (Wiggins and Morris 1986).
Coordination of behavior and physiology:
Courtship behavior also play a function to coordinate behaviors of mates. Because
males and females have different reproductive systems. It displays the nest construction, egg
laying and feeding behavior of mates (Fusani 2008). Males release courtship pheromones and
female is more receptive.
Maintenance of pair bonds:
Courtship behavior also identifies and maintain the pair bond between mates. For
example, dusky titi monkeys sit with their tails intertwined. Male pipefish has a pocket in
which female laid eggs. Male protects these eggs. In many species male build a nest in which
female laid eggs and after that male protects these eggs and when eggs becomes hatches male
avoid the attack of any other individual in its territory and get food for the off springs.
Maintaining social bonds:
Some species live in a form of groups. They use different communication signals to
maintain their bonds. These show greeting signals among individuals of same species but
show aggression behavior toward individual of another species. Chimpanzee show greeting
behavior by touching their hands (Goodall 1965). Sea lion rub their noses on their mate
cheeks. African wild dogs show greetings by pushing their mussels in corner of each other’s
mouth (Schaller 1972).
In many mammals, social grooming is used to maintain a pair bond that is called
allagrooming.
Alarm calls:
Animals present in social groups produce alarm calls to inform their mates, when any
threat is to be faced from predator. These signals informs the individuals in a group to run
away, become stunt or gather into a close group. Alarm calls are often shown in groups of
crows, monkeys and dogs to avoid the threats. Alarm calls always identifies the presence of
danger.
Alarm calls that cause animals to escape
Many alarm signal cause individuals to escape or take shield. For example, flash of
deer tail and release of highly volatile pheromones to the surroundings inform their mates
about threat and have to escape (Strushsaker 1967).
Alarm calls that cause animal to gather
Other type of signals are those that inform other individuals to gather in area and
make a strong group. Responses to alarms of gathering is quite complex. For example, ants
release alarm pheromones to gather (Yamagata et al, 2007). In response to these pheromones,
first, the ants gather then they freeze these pheromones and finally they bitt the predator.
Aggregation:
Some animals often use aggregation signals to aggregate. Such as showing the
behavior of hibernation, prepare themselves to migrate from their residency and share their
territory to other individuals of same species.
For example, bedbugs release aggregation pheromones to find each other (Siljander et al,
2008). Bed bug is a house pet that come out from its burrow during night and bite human to
get its food in form of blood meal. Human will be able to identify these pheromones to
control the bedbugs.
Agonistic encounters:
Agonistic behavior of an animals show their aggressive behavior and avoidance
behavior. Animals are in conflict between each other to confine their territory, find food, find
mate etc. animals show aggressive behavior in threats and show submissive behavior to
avoid.
Communication about resources:
Some animals live together in groups and communicate each other to find food. These
animals show foraging behavior. Such type of behavior is shown in honeybees. Honeybees
live in colonies that have one queen and other honeybees are workers. The worker honeybees
gather food for queen and for drones and newly off springs. Drones are male honeybees that
fertilize queen’s eggs. Older bees are foragers. These bees collect nectar from flowers from
long distances. These older bees communicate to other new bees about food sites
(Maeterlinck 1901).
These forager bees when return into hive do some type of dance. This dancing behavior
informs other bees about location of food and how much distance at food is present.
There are two types of dances performed by forager bees:
Round dance
Waggle dance
Round dance as name indicates that it is circular dance. Bees perform it in a circular pattern
and waggle dance is performed in straight line that start from center and moves toward end
then form a circle.
Cues to find food
Bees use foraging dance to locate their food and then return to hive by using sun cues.
Sun cues also define the distance and direction of pollens from hive (Tanner et al, 2008).
Meta communication:
Met communication is observed in some type of animals. It is type of communication
that defines the signals in other way. It is seen in dogs groups in which individual show that
the aggressive signals are only a part of play fight rather than a serious aggressive behavior.
This is also called play face event.
Territorial signals:
Animals are always in conflicts between each other to show one’s superiority upon
the other. These animals makes clear signals to defend their territory. This type of behavior is
present in lions, tigers, elephants and in dogs. Some birds such as duck and swan also show
this type of behavior. These animals mark on some specific area, which becomes their
territory and fight with other animals to keep them away from their territory.

Conclusion:
Communication is process in which animals communicate each other. It is a type of
language used by animals to send information among each other. Communication allows
animals to live together and breed. The animals, such as visionary communication, olfactory
communication, auditory communication, tactile communication, chemical communication,
electrical communication etc., use many types’ communications. These communications
plays variety of role in these animals life. For example, animals locate their prey, they also
become aware about predator, live in groups, locate their foods, locate their mates in breeding
seasons, make their territories and defend these territories, use alarms to avoid to predators
and inform their belongings to avoid, aggregate to find each other.

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