Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats

Animals living in human care for several generations face the risk of losing natural behaviors, which can lead to reduced animal welfare. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that meerkats (<i>Suricata suricatta</i>) living in zoos can assess potential danger and respond naturally ba...

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Autores principales:	Sebastian Schneider, Sarah Goettlich, Charlette Diercks, Paul Wilhelm Dierkes
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	meerkats suricates bioacoustics graded structure vocalization alarm calls Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7b50d38b5dad4ec6b98c6a96a556d61c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7b50d38b5dad4ec6b98c6a96a556d61c2021-11-25T16:14:22ZDiscrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats10.3390/ani111130642076-2615https://doaj.org/article/7b50d38b5dad4ec6b98c6a96a556d61c2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/11/3064https://doaj.org/toc/2076-2615Animals living in human care for several generations face the risk of losing natural behaviors, which can lead to reduced animal welfare. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that meerkats (<i>Suricata suricatta</i>) living in zoos can assess potential danger and respond naturally based on acoustic signals only. This includes that the graded information of urgency in alarm calls as well as a response to those alarm calls is retained in captivity. To test the response to acoustic signals with different threat potential, meerkats were played calls of various animals differing in size and threat (e.g., robin, raven, buzzard, jackal) while their behavior was observed. The emitted alarm calls were recorded and examined for their graded structure on the one hand and played back to them on the other hand by means of a playback experiment to see whether the animals react to their own alarm calls even in the absence of danger. A fuzzy clustering algorithm was used to analyze and classify the alarm calls. Subsequently, the features that best described the graded structure were isolated using the LASSO algorithm and compared to features already known from wild meerkats. The results show that the graded structure is maintained in captivity and can be described by features such as noise and duration. The animals respond to new threats and can distinguish animal calls that are dangerous to them from those that are not, indicating the preservation of natural cooperative behavior. In addition, the playback experiments show that the meerkats respond to their own alarm calls with vigilance and escape behavior. The findings can be used to draw conclusions about the intensity of alertness in captive meerkats and to adapt husbandry conditions to appropriate welfare.Sebastian SchneiderSarah GoettlichCharlette DiercksPaul Wilhelm DierkesMDPI AGarticlemeerkatssuricatesbioacousticsgraded structurevocalizationalarm callsVeterinary medicineSF600-1100ZoologyQL1-991ENAnimals, Vol 11, Iss 3064, p 3064 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	meerkats suricates bioacoustics graded structure vocalization alarm calls Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991
spellingShingle	meerkats suricates bioacoustics graded structure vocalization alarm calls Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Zoology QL1-991 Sebastian Schneider Sarah Goettlich Charlette Diercks Paul Wilhelm Dierkes Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats
description	Animals living in human care for several generations face the risk of losing natural behaviors, which can lead to reduced animal welfare. The goal of this study is to demonstrate that meerkats (<i>Suricata suricatta</i>) living in zoos can assess potential danger and respond naturally based on acoustic signals only. This includes that the graded information of urgency in alarm calls as well as a response to those alarm calls is retained in captivity. To test the response to acoustic signals with different threat potential, meerkats were played calls of various animals differing in size and threat (e.g., robin, raven, buzzard, jackal) while their behavior was observed. The emitted alarm calls were recorded and examined for their graded structure on the one hand and played back to them on the other hand by means of a playback experiment to see whether the animals react to their own alarm calls even in the absence of danger. A fuzzy clustering algorithm was used to analyze and classify the alarm calls. Subsequently, the features that best described the graded structure were isolated using the LASSO algorithm and compared to features already known from wild meerkats. The results show that the graded structure is maintained in captivity and can be described by features such as noise and duration. The animals respond to new threats and can distinguish animal calls that are dangerous to them from those that are not, indicating the preservation of natural cooperative behavior. In addition, the playback experiments show that the meerkats respond to their own alarm calls with vigilance and escape behavior. The findings can be used to draw conclusions about the intensity of alertness in captive meerkats and to adapt husbandry conditions to appropriate welfare.
format	article
author	Sebastian Schneider Sarah Goettlich Charlette Diercks Paul Wilhelm Dierkes
author_facet	Sebastian Schneider Sarah Goettlich Charlette Diercks Paul Wilhelm Dierkes
author_sort	Sebastian Schneider
title	Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats
title_short	Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats
title_full	Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats
title_fullStr	Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats
title_full_unstemmed	Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats
title_sort	discrimination of acoustic stimuli and maintenance of graded alarm call structure in captive meerkats
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7b50d38b5dad4ec6b98c6a96a556d61c
work_keys_str_mv	AT sebastianschneider discriminationofacousticstimuliandmaintenanceofgradedalarmcallstructureincaptivemeerkats AT sarahgoettlich discriminationofacousticstimuliandmaintenanceofgradedalarmcallstructureincaptivemeerkats AT charlettediercks discriminationofacousticstimuliandmaintenanceofgradedalarmcallstructureincaptivemeerkats AT paulwilhelmdierkes discriminationofacousticstimuliandmaintenanceofgradedalarmcallstructureincaptivemeerkats
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Discrimination of Acoustic Stimuli and Maintenance of Graded Alarm Call Structure in Captive Meerkats

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