Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) respond to yellow‐bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) alarm calls

摘要: Individuals may obtain valuable information about the presence of predators by listening to heterospecific alarm signals. Most playback studies have demonstrated that similarly sized and taxonomically related species respond calls each other, but less work has been carried out define these factors influence responsiveness In theory, individuals should from any provide important predators, regardless body size or taxonomic relationship. However, is often associated with vulnerability. Coyotes (Canis latrans) in Rocky Mountains prey upon both mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), which differ considerably size, vocalizations, antipredator behavior. We conducted a experiment see whether discriminated between marmot non-alarm song common sympatric bird. found increased vigilance significantly more after hearing broadcast compared bird song. Interestingly, were studied within 0.5 km homes showed greater discrimination than those farther humans. Our results suggest relative differences do not prevent interspecific communication generally drive evolution ability learn meaningful risk cues. As long as two share predator, it benefit other its calls.