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Influence of season and social context on male giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) vocal behaviour
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 11, p e0225772 (2019), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2019.
-
Abstract
- Documenting the different social and behavioural contexts that vocalisations are produced in remains an important step towards understanding the functional relevance of specific call types in a given species' vocal repertoire. In this study we investigated whether seasonal differences and the presence or absence of male and female conspecifics influence the production of male giant panda vocal signals. To this end, captive male giant pandas were observed during and outside of the breeding season in three social contexts: only male conspecific neighbours, only female conspecific neighbours, and a context with no neighbours. We found that males were more likely to bleat, chirp, honk and moan during the breeding season, and showed a tendency to growl more outside of the reproductive period. The contextual analysis revealed that bleats were more likely to be produced by males when opposite-sexed conspecifics are in close attendance during the breeding season. Conversely, males were more likely to chirp when neighboured by males than females or no neighbours. In addition, males were more likely to honk in the absence of neighbouring conspecifics during the breeding season, raising the possibility that these calls function to signal location and gain the attention of potential mates. Moans were produced more often when male giant pandas had male than female neighbours during the breeding season, which may reflect mild aggression towards these same-sexed rivals, whereas the production of barks and growls did not vary according to season or the sex of conspecific neighbours. Our findings underscore the importance of male giant panda bleats for coordinating reproduction and promoting contact with potential mating partners in this non-gregarious species, and yield fresh insights into the function of male honks that warrant further investigation. They also provide a basis for comparison with free-ranging giant panda vocal behaviour that could potentially inform conservation efforts.
- Subjects :
- Male
0106 biological sciences
Animal sexual behaviour
Audio Signal Processing
Social Sciences
Breeding
01 natural sciences
Vocalization
Seasonal breeder
Psychology
Animal Husbandry
Mating
Animal Management
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
media_common
Mammals
Multidisciplinary
Giant Pandas
Animal Behavior
biology
Physics
Repertoire
05 social sciences
Eukaryota
Agriculture
Vertebrates
Physical Sciences
Engineering and Technology
Medicine
Female
Seasons
Reproduction
medicine.symptom
Ursidae
Research Article
Science
media_common.quotation_subject
Zoology
Bears
Context (language use)
Animal Sexual Behavior
010603 evolutionary biology
biology.animal
Acoustic Signals
medicine
Animals
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology
Behavior
Aggression
Organisms
Biology and Life Sciences
Acoustics
Animal Communication
Amniotes
Signal Processing
Vocalization, Animal
Bioacoustics
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 14
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLOS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....700907028784e83413f15a5bdf609068