Abstract
Animals frequently use signals that travel further than the spacing between individuals. For every intended recipient of a given signal there are likely to be many other individuals that receive information. Eavesdropping on signalling interactions between other individuals provides a relatively cost-free method of assessing future opponents or mates. Male great tits (Parus major) extract relative information from such interactions between individuals unknown to them. Here, we show that male great tits can take information gathering a stage further and obtain more information about a previously unencountered intruder, by the hitherto unknown capability of combining information gathered by eavesdropping with that derived from their own direct interaction with an individual. Prior experience with an intruder (A) was achieved by subjecting a focal male to different levels of intrusion simulated using interactive playback. This intruder (A) then took part in a simulated interaction with an unknown male (B) outside the territorial boundary of the focal males. In response to subsequent intrusion by the second male (B), focal males showed low song output in response to males that had lost to a male that the subject was able to beat. Males of known high quality, or those about which information was ambiguous, elicited a high level of song output by focal males. We discuss the implications of this finding for the evolution of communication and social behaviour.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (82.5 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Earley Ryan L., Dugatkin Lee Alan. Eavesdropping on visual cues in green swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) fights: a case for networking. Proc Biol Sci. 2002 May 7;269(1494):943–952. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2002.1973. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Healy I, I, Braithwaite I., I Cognitive ecology: a field of substance? Trends Ecol Evol. 2000 Jan;15(1):22–26. doi: 10.1016/s0169-5347(99)01737-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Johnstone R. A. Eavesdropping and animal conflict. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jul 17;98(16):9177–9180. doi: 10.1073/pnas.161058798. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mennill Daniel J., Ratcliffe Laurene M., Boag Peter T. Female eavesdropping on male song contests in songbirds. Science. 2002 May 3;296(5569):873–873. doi: 10.1126/science.296.5569.873. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Naguib M, Todt D. Effects of dyadic vocal interactions on other conspecific receivers in nightingales. Anim Behav. 1997 Dec;54(6):1535–1543. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1997.9997. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nowak M. A., Sigmund K. Evolution of indirect reciprocity by image scoring. Nature. 1998 Jun 11;393(6685):573–577. doi: 10.1038/31225. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Oliveira R. F., Lopes M., Carneiro L. A., Canário A. V. Watching fights raises fish hormone levels. Nature. 2001 Jan 25;409(6819):475–475. doi: 10.1038/35054128. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0397. [DOI] [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
- doi: 10.1098/rspb.1999.0669. [DOI] [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
- doi: 10.1098/rspb.1999.0779. [DOI] [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
- Peake T. M., Terry A. M., McGregor P. K., Dabelsteen T. Male great tits eavesdrop on simulated male-to-male vocal interactions. Proc Biol Sci. 2001 Jun 7;268(1472):1183–1187. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2001.1648. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wedekind C., Milinski M. Cooperation through image scoring in humans. Science. 2000 May 5;288(5467):850–852. doi: 10.1126/science.288.5467.850. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]