Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism.
Accepted version
Peer-reviewed
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Spottiswoode, Claire N
Begg, Keith S
Begg, Colleen M
Abstract
Greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) lead human honey-hunters to wild bees' nests, in a rare example of a mutualistic foraging partnership between humans and free-living wild animals. We show experimentally that a specialized vocal sound made by Mozambican honey-hunters seeking bees' nests elicits elevated cooperative behavior from honeyguides. The production of this sound increased the probability of being guided by a honeyguide from about 33 to 66% and the overall probability of thus finding a bees' nest from 17 to 54%, as compared with other animal or human sounds of similar amplitude. These results provide experimental evidence that a wild animal in a natural setting responds adaptively to a human signal of cooperation.
Description
Keywords
Animals, Bees, Birds, Cooperative Behavior, Honey, Human Activities, Humans, Mozambique, Symbiosis, Vocalization, Animal
Journal Title
Science
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
Volume Title
353
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Publisher DOI
Sponsorship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J014109/1)
CNS was supported by a BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship (BB/J014109/1) and the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute.