Are simakobu ( Simias concolor ) loud calls energetically costly signals

Bibliographic Data

ID8312974
AuthorsWendy M Erb (0000-0001-5714-9496, Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences Stony Brook University Stony Brook NY 11794, corresponding author), Thomas Ziegler (0000-0002-4797-609X, Leipniz Institute for Primate Research, German Primate Center Göttingen 37077 Germany), Nurul Silva Lestari (0000-0003-2770-7324, Ministry of Environment), Kurt Hammerschmidt (0000-0002-3430-2993, Cognitive Ethology Laboratory German Primate Center Göttingen 37077 Germany)
Year2016
Volume161
Issue1
Pages44-52
Publication date2016-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.23005
PMID27154468
OpenAlexW2345670753
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited72

OBJECTIVES: Male vocal displays play an important role in sexual selection in many species. If there are costs or constraints, calls may convey honest information about the caller. We studied the loud calls of male simakobu (Simias concolor), a sexually dimorphic primate that resides in one-male groups, on Siberut Island, Indonesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We combined behavioral and ecological data with acoustic analysis to determine the influence of energy costs and status on calling effort. Based on all-day follows (n = 107) and loud-call recordings (n = 186), we determined how calling rates and durations varied in relation to short-term (time of day, temperature, travel distance) and long-term (fruit availability, physical condition) measures of energy availability and expenditure. RESULTS: We found that males avoided calling at the hottest times of the day, and produced shorter calls at higher temperatures, supporting the hypothesis that calls are influenced by thermoregulation costs. A peak of longer duration calls just before sunrise, however, could not be explained by energy constraints, but we hypothesize that this pattern is related to the fact that dawn calls occur in choruses, motivating males to call longer than their neighbors. Contrary to predictions, calling rates increased with decreasing fruit availability and did not appear to be energetically costly. DISCUSSION: We hypothesize that calling rates instead reflect strategies involving feeding and/or mate competition, signaling the motivation, rather than fighting ability, of the caller. Overall, results only weakly support the hypothesis that the timing and duration-but not rate-of simakobu loud calls are influenced by energy costs. Am J Phys Anthropol 161:44-52, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Biology · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior · Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience · Primate Behavior and Ecology

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