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AP®︎/College Biology
Course: AP®︎/College Biology > Unit 8
Lesson 1: Responses to the environmentAnimal communication
Animal communication encompasses a diverse range of methods, including nonverbal and visual cues, to convey information within and among species, and even with humans. Key functions of animal communication include mating rituals, territorial proclamations, food discovery, and alarm signals. It is crucial to avoid anthropomorphizing animals by attributing human emotions and thoughts to their behaviors, as their primary goal is survival and adaptation within their environment. Created by Brooke Miller.
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- Why do scientists never use the word "language" to describe animal communication? Most animals don't seam to use communication complex enough to be called language, but what about dolphins? I have heard that they use unique sets of sound to signify who is giving information, much like a name. If this and other patterns are occurring in vocalizations, wouldn't that constitute language?(12 votes)
- Though what you say is true I don't think there's a lot of evidence for cultural transmission of language within dolphin groups. Most of their communication is through innate noises rather than an evolving lexicon with complex grammar. Also it is unlikely that they are able to describe mental time travel i.e. events that happened in the past or will happen in the future. These are aspects unique to human language.(6 votes)
- aren't visual cues a type of nonverbal cues?(6 votes)
- That's true but I think in the context of this video, non-verbal cues refer to facial expressions or body language, while visual cues pertain more to colours and signs(5 votes)
- do animals know how to communicate from the day they're born?(6 votes)
- Can different animals use these types of animal communications on each other?(3 votes)
- Yes. All animals respond to the cry of a human baby because all baby animal cries are roughly the same pitch.(3 votes)
- if a new species gets introduced, what if they have a different way of communicating and
they don't actually have a way of communicating.(2 votes)- If humans introduce new species into a certain habitat, it will affect the ecosystem for sure.
If new species have problems with communicating with sounds with other species than it may use visual interpretation or even pheromones.(3 votes)
- if an new specie is involve of animals how will it effect them?(3 votes)
- Can you clarify what you mean by your question?(1 vote)
- So when dogs come to greet you, I assumed it was because they liked you but after this video I am not sure. Do you know a valid reason why dogs like to meet random strangers?(1 vote)
- Why do you like to meet new people or even other animals? If you don't sense any threat from someone, or some animal, then don't you try to get to know them if you have an opportunity?(4 votes)
- how to sharks communicate or foxes they dont make a sound(0 votes)
- Different sharks communicate within their own species in different ways; for example, the great white sharks can communicate with each other by gaping their jaws while the gray reef sharks communicate using their senses of sight and touch. In general, sharks are not believed to have linguistic communication abilities, relying instead on other senses to communicate.
Hope this helps!(2 votes)
- Suppose there's a wolf pack, and an unfamiliar baby wolf is introduced into their pack. Would the pack raise the cub as their own? Would the result be the same if it was a fox or coyote cub?(2 votes)
- is behavioural consideration in animal housing important and stating examples of a named species(1 vote)
- Stallions (male horses that can breed) can be aggresive with eatchother and can be aggresive when they smell a mare in heat (A Mare (Female horse) has an Esterus Cycle) and may try to get to the mare , proper stabling or stable fencing in a paddock or pasture is Extremly important, for the stallions saftey as well as for the saftey of other horses , Livestock , and other animals .. as well as for humans and property, this is the best awsner i can think of, your question was weirdly stated(1 vote)
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] When humans
communicate with one another, they tend to rely on a few things. So, first of all, we rely on language. We use it to communicate our
ideas, thoughts and feelings, and also to respond to the ideas, thoughts and feelings of others. We also use a bunch of nonverbal cues, so we smile when we're happy,
we frown when we're sad, we can tell if the people
around us are anxious or angry. And we also use visual cues. So if I painted every
room in my house black and blasted Metallica all day, I would be sending out different signals, different cues about myself, than if I was to paint
every room in my house pink and cover everything in posters
of ballerinas and unicorns. And other animals besides humans have ways of communicating as well. Maybe not with language per se, but with lots of different
nonverbal cues and visual cues. As well as many other
types of communication that aren't used by humans. And while we'll go over all
of those different types of communications in a separate video, I wanted to take a little
bit of time to talk about why animals communicate
and why this is necessary. So one question we might want to ask is, "Who are animals communicating with?" So some species of animals
might use different types of vocalization to communicate with members of the same species. But animals can also communicate with other animals that
are not in their species. So, for example, some types of frogs use really bright colors to signal that they're toxic, which will let other animals
know not to eat them. And of course, animals can
also communicate with humans. Every morning my cats let me know when it's time for me to
wake up and feed them. Or, at least, when they feel that I should wake up and feed them. But there's also autocommunication, so animals can also use communication to give information to themselves, and that's kind of a trickier one, but I think the best example
might be bats and echolocation. So bats send out a signal, and then when that signal bounces back, they're able to gain information about the things in their environment. Alright, so animals can use communication to give information to themselves, to members of their same species, and also members of other species. But what type of information
are these animals trying to convey? What is the main function
of animal communication? Well, the first one
would be mating rituals. Animals can produce a multitude of signals as a way to attract the opposite sex. Some are really brightly colors, others do complicated dances, and some do specific verbal calls. Animals also use communication
to proclaim ownership or territory or to defend territory. So basically it's a way of telling other animals to back off. And I had birds as pets in my
house when I was growing up, and my birds were extremely kind, they would sit on your shoulder, they would try to eat all of your food, and they were just
generally really social. When they laid eggs, they
got really territorial. They would basically try
to take your finger off if you got too close to them. Another function of animal communication
is food communication. So, signalling to other animals
where they can find food. There's also alarm calls, or
cases where animals will try to warn others about the
presence of a predator. Animals can also use communication as a way to signal
dominance and submission. So, for example, after dogs fight, they might adapt different stances to indicate who came out on top. But one thing I want to make sure to say, before we actually go into really talking about all of the different
ways that animals can use to communicate, is that
I want to say that, while it's clear that
animals do communicate, both which each other
and with us as humans, we need to be really careful that we don't put too
much thought into this. We need to be careful
not to anthropomorphize, or attribute too many
human characteristics to nonhuman animals. So we can try to interpret
and try to ascribe meaning to the actions of animals, but we can never really be
certain that we are correct, because we can't really ask the animals what they mean. So my cats sleep with me at night, and they usually sit with
me when I'm on the couch, and I would like to assume
that it's because they love me and want to be with me, but it's possible that they're also only trying to keep physical contact with me because I produce a lot of body heat. And that it is that
motivation rather than love that explains my cats' behaviors.