Animal communication is the
transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to
one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) that affects the current or
future behavior of the receivers. Information may be sent intentionally, as in
a courtship display, or unintentionally, as in the transfer of scent from
predator to prey. Information may be transferred to an "audience" of
several receivers. Animal communication is a rapidly growing area of study in
disciplines including animal behavior, sociology, neurology and animal
cognition. Many aspects of animal behavior, such as symbolic name use,
emotional expression, learning and sexual behavior, are being understood in new
ways
When the information from the
sender changes the behavior of a receiver, the information is referred to as a
"signal". Signalling theory predicts that for a signal to be
maintained in the population, both the sender and receiver should usually
receive some benefit from the interaction. Signal production by senders and the
perception and subsequent response of receivers are thought to coevolve.
Signals often involve multiple mechanisms, e.g. both visual and auditory, and
for a signal to be understood the coordinated behavior of both sender and
receiver require careful study.
Intraspecies communication vs.
Interspecies communication
Intraspecies communication
The
majority of animal communication occurs within a single species, and this is
the context in which it has been most intensively studied. Most of the forms
and functions of the communication are relevant to intraspecies communication.
Intraspecies communication is
communication between different species of animals, plants, or microorganisms. Cooperative
interspecies communication implies sharing and understanding information
between two or more species that work towards the benefit of both species (mutualism).
