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Reciprocal recognition of sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi) and redfronted lemur (Eulemur fulvus rufus) alarm calls

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Abstract

Redfronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus) and Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi) occur sympatrically in western Madagascar. Both species exhibit a so-called mixed alarm call system with functionally referential alarm calls for raptors and general alarm calls for carnivores and raptors. General alarm calls also occur in other contexts associated with high arousal, such as inter-group encounters. Field playback experiments were conducted to investigate whether interspecific recognition of alarm calls occurs in both species, even though the two species rarely interact. In a crossed design, redfronted lemur and sifaka alarm calls were broadcast to individuals of both species, using the alarm call of chacma baboons (Papio cynocephalus) as a control. Both species responded with appropriate escape strategies and alarm calls after playbacks of heterospecific aerial alarm calls. Similarly, they reacted appropriately to playbacks of heterospecific general alarm calls. Playbacks of baboon alarm calls elicited no specific responses in either lemur species, indicating that an understanding of interspecific alarm calls caused the responses and not alarm calls in general. Thus, the two lemur species have an understanding of each other's aerial as well as general alarm calls, suggesting that even in species that do not form mutualistic associations and rarely interact, common predator pressure has been sufficient for the development of heterospecific call recognition.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Berthe Rakotosamimanana at the Departément de Paléontologie et d'Anthropologie Biologique de l'Université d'Antananarivo, the members of the Commission Tripartite of the Direction des Eaux et Forêts, and the Parque Botanique et Zoologique Tzimabazaza for their authorization and support of this study. Additionally, I thank Kurt Hammerschmidt and Julia Fischer for providing me with baboon alarm calls. I express my special thanks to Kurt Hammerschmidt for his assistance during playback experiments in the field. Comments by D. Brockman, K. Hammerschmidt, P.M. Kappeler, P.H. Klopfer and two anonymous referees improved an earlier version of this manuscript. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

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  1. Claudia Fichtel

    Present address: Department of Cultural Phylogeny, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

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  1. Abteilung Neurobiologie, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Claudia Fichtel

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Correspondence to Claudia Fichtel.

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Fichtel, C. Reciprocal recognition of sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi) and redfronted lemur (Eulemur fulvus rufus) alarm calls. Anim Cogn 7, 45–52 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-003-0180-0

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