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Contributors
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- By Diogo Almeida, Sergio Balari, Douglas Bemis, Antonio Benítez-Burraco, Derek Bickerton, Michal Biran, Cedric Boeckx, Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Jonathan Brennan, Perrine Brusini, Elodie Cauvet, Anne Christophe, Albert Costa, Dror Dotan, Naama Friedmann, Kleanthes K. Grohmann, Mireia Hernández, Gregory Hickok, William J. Idsardi, Lyle Jenkins, Simon Kirby, Ellen F. Lau, Jeffrey Lidz, Víctor M. Longa, Guillermo Lorenzo, Gary F. Marcus, Clara D. Martin, Brian McElree, James McGilvray, Jürgen M. Meisel, Séverine Millotte, Philip J. Monahan, Kazuo Okanoya, Lisa Pearl, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Liina Pylkkänen, Cristina D. Rabaglia, Hugh Rabagliati, Matthias Schlesewsky, Núria Sebastián-Galles, Jon Sprouse, Ianthi Maria Tsimpli, Matthew Wagers, Ken Wexler, Klaus Zuberbühler
- Edited by Cedric Boeckx, Kleanthes K. Grohmann, University of Cyprus
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- Book:
- The Cambridge Handbook of Biolinguistics
- Published online:
- 05 May 2013
- Print publication:
- 14 February 2013, pp xiii-xiv
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8 - Monkey alarm calls
- Edited by W. Scott McGraw, Ohio State University, Klaus Zuberbühler, University of St Andrews, Scotland, Ronald Noë, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
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- Book:
- Monkeys of the Taï Forest
- Published online:
- 30 July 2009
- Print publication:
- 10 May 2007, pp 194-220
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Summary
Introduction
Most primates vocalize when threatened by a predator. These signals, usually termed alarm calls (from old Italian “all arme” = “to arms” on the approach of an enemy), are interesting for a number of reasons. First, they are relatively uncomplicated to examine. Alarm calls are typically highly discrete signals, and it is thus often not difficult to study both causes and consequences of this behavior. Second, alarm calls are interesting because they pose a problem for evolutionary theory. Paradoxically, they are often amongst the most prominent and noticeable signals in a species' repertoire. But why should an individual behave conspicuously in the presence of a predator, hereby revealing its presence and location? Finally, alarm calls have obtained some significance for the empirical study of pre-linguistic abilities. Alarm calls are unique because they are well suited for experimental work and so provide a unique tool for empirically accessing the cognitive mechanisms underlying an individual's behavior.
The purpose of this chapter is to review some key findings in the study of primate alarm calling behavior. The first section is devoted to the problem of why primates produce seemingly maladaptive behavior in the presence of a predator. Which evolutionary processes could have provided a selective advantage for individuals to behave in this counter-intuitive way? A second section is concerned with the cognitive processes that underlie call production and perception.
5 - Interaction between leopard and monkeys
- Edited by W. Scott McGraw, Ohio State University, Klaus Zuberbühler, University of St Andrews, Scotland, Ronald Noë, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
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- Book:
- Monkeys of the Taï Forest
- Published online:
- 30 July 2009
- Print publication:
- 10 May 2007, pp 133-154
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Summary
Introduction
Although predation is clearly a crucial factor in the evolution of primates its actual effects as a selective force are not well understood. Predation is thought to have affected various traits such as body size, group size and composition, vigilance, ecological niche, as well as vocal and reproductive behavior (van Schaik 1983, Cheney & Wrangham 1987, Cords 1990, Hill & Dunbar 1998, Stanford 1998, Uster & Zuberbühler 2001). However, there are reasons to remain cautious about many of the proposed relationships. In particular, little is known about the hunting pressure exerted by the various primate predators and the selective pressure they impose on a primate community. Nevertheless, predation is often treated as a homogeneous evolutionary force even though predators differ considerably in their hunting behavior. For instance in the Taï forest, monkeys are hunted by chimpanzees Pan troglodytes, crowned eagles Stephanoaetus coronatus, and leopards Panthera pardus. Predatory chimpanzees locate monkey groups by acoustic cues and hunt for individuals in the high canopy (Boesch & Boesch-Achermann 2000). Not surprisingly, the presence of chimpanzees reliably elicits cryptic behavior in nearby monkeys (Zuberbühler et al. 1999). Crowned eagles, in contrast, hunt by sweeping through the canopy to surprise their prey (Gautier-Hion & Tutin 1988, Shultz 2001) and their discovery typically elicits loud and conspicuous alarm calling and sometimes even mobbing behavior (Zuberbühler 2000b). Because they differ fundamentally in their hunting strategies, the selective force of chimpanzees, leopards, and eagles – as predators – is not homogeneous.
1 - The monkeys of the Taï forest: an introduction
- Edited by W. Scott McGraw, Ohio State University, Klaus Zuberbühler, University of St Andrews, Scotland, Ronald Noë, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg
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- Book:
- Monkeys of the Taï Forest
- Published online:
- 30 July 2009
- Print publication:
- 10 May 2007, pp 1-48
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Summary
Introduction
With several notable exceptions (e.g. Schaller 1963, Goodall 1965, 1968), early field primatology in Africa was practically equivalent to observing baboons on the savannah. Because of the prominence of open-country primates in models of human evolution as well as the difficulties of seeing and habituating cercopithecids in dense forest, many of the first studies of African primates focussed on terrestrial monkeys such as Olive baboons (Washburn & Devore 1961a, 1961b), Chacma baboons (Hall 1962), Hamadryas baboons (Kummer 1968), Yellow baboons (Altmann & Altmann 1970), Gelada baboons (Crook 1966, Crook & Aldrich-Blake 1968, Dunbar & Dunbar 1974), patas monkeys (Hall 1965) and vervet monkeys (Struhsaker 1967) (but see Haddow 1952, Rowell 1966, Aldrich-Blake 1968, 1970, Chalmers 1968a, 1968b, Gautier & Gautier-Hion 1969, Struhsaker 1969, Gartlan & Struhsaker 1972). Interest in arboreal primates eventually prompted more biologists to venture beneath the closed canopy and with Struhsaker's (1975) classic monograph on red colobus monkeys as a reference point, our knowledge of forest-dwelling African monkeys has grown significantly over the last 30 years. The result has been a burgeoning literature on African cercopithecoids including detailed treatments of guenons (e.g. Gautier-Hion et al. 1988, Glenn & Cords 2002), colobines (Davies & Oates 1994) and monkeys throughout the Congo Basin (Gautier-Hion et al. 1999).