Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism.
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Publication Date
2016-07-22Journal Title
Science
ISSN
0036-8075
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Volume
353
Pages
387-389
Language
English
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
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Spottiswoode, C., Begg, K. S., & Begg, C. M. (2016). Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism.. Science, 353 387-389. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4885
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.
Relationships
Is supplemented by: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8c65s
Sponsorship
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.
Funder references
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/J014109/1)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf4885
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/256963
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