Eavesdropping Iguanas
Marine iguanas on the Galapagos islands have to be careful when sun bathing otherwise they may end up as lunch for a hawk. New research shows that the iguanas listen for warning calls from mockingbirds. What is really interesting is that marine iguanas are mute and this is the first time that any mute animal has been observed responding to another species alarm call.
Maren Vitousek, the graduate student who first noticed the behavior, and her colleagues recorded the song and the alarm call of the mockingbird and played it to the iguanas. The researchers found that the alarm call increased the alertness in the iguanas 60% more of the time then the normal song did. At one study site that is close to a hawk nest the difference was even more pronounced. The iguanas have learned to pay attention to alarm call even though they cannot make vocalizations of there own. Very little is known about the iguanas' hearing mainly because they can't use sound to communicate. This research could mean that their hearing is more sophisticated then anyone thought.
Source: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/1003/2
Posted by Jessica McDonnell(3)
posted by PWH @ 8:16 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Good blog. It is interesting to see that an animal without vocalization, to be listening to other species' calls. So like you said, their hearing must be more developed then we think.
Jessica,
This is a really interesting article. I had no idea that iguanas were mute. Something that was unclear to me was whether the mockingbirds were making these warning calls? I assume mockingbirds are prey to hawks too but you should probably specify that in your blog. Great Work!
Posted by: Emily King
This was very interesting. I never have heard of a mute animal responding to other animal warning calls. It'd be interesting if they continued with research on these animals and their hearing capabilities in order to figure out the mechanisms that enable them to respond to sound.
posted by Kayla Carrero
Post a Comment
<< Home