Animals communicate when one animal transmits information to another animal causing some kind of change in the animal that gets the information. It is usually between animals of a single species, but it can also happen between two animals of different species using signals. For instance, your dog may bark at you to ask for a treat. Common signals: 1) Pheromones (chemicals) 2) Auditory Cues (sounds) 3) Visual Cues 4) Tactile Cues (touch
). In some cases, signals can be electric! These behaviors can help animals find mates, establish dominance, defend territory, coordinate group behavior, and care for young.
Explanation:
Some species are very social, living in groups & constantly interacting; communication is essential for keeping these groups cohesive and organized. However, even animals that are relative loners usually have to communicate at least a little, if only to find a mate. Communication behaviors and the capacity for learning these behaviors arise through natural selection. Heritable communication behaviors that increase an organism's likelihood of surviving and reproducing will tend to persist and become common in a population or species.
Pheromones are secreted chemical signals used to trigger a response in another individual of the same species. This is common among social insects, such as ants and bees, as they may attract the opposite sex, raise an alarm, mark a food trail, or trigger other, more complex behaviors. Ants also use pheromones to communicate their social status, or role in the colony, and ants of different "castes" may respond differently to the same signals. A squashed ant will also release a burst of pheromones that warns nearby ants of danger and may incite them to swarm and sting. Dogs also communicate using pheromones. They sniff each other to collect this chemical information, and many of the chemicals are also released in their urine. By peeing on a bush or post, a dog leaves a mark of its identity that can be read by other passing dogs and may stake its claim to nearby territory
.
Auditory communication, based on sound, is widely used in the animal kingdom. It is particularly important in birds, who use sounds to convey warnings, attract mates, defend territories, and coordinate group behaviors. Some birds also produce birdsong, vocalizations that are relatively long and melodic and tend to be similar among the members of a species. Many non-bird species also communicate using sound. Monkeys cry out a warning when a predator is near, giving the other members of the troop a chance to escape. Vervet monkeys even have different calls to indicate different predators. Bullfrogs croak to attract female frogs as mates. Gibbons use calls to mark their territory, keeping potential competitors away. A paired male and female, and their offspring, may make the calls together. Water & air can carry sound waves. Marine animals also use sound to communicate. Dolphins produce various noises, including whistles, chirps, and clicks and arrange them in complex patterns.
Visual communication involves signals that can be seen; i.e, gestures, facial expressions, body postures, and coloration. Gesture and posture are widely used visual signals. Chimps communicate a threat by raising their arms, slapping the ground, or staring directly at another chimpanzee. Gestures and postures are commonly used in mating rituals.
Facial expressions are used to convey information in some species; i.e., what is known as the fear grin shown on the face of the young chimp signals submission when approaching a dominant male in their troop to indicate they accept the male's dominance. Changes in coloration also serve as visual signals. In some monkeys, the skin around a female’s reproductive organs becomes brightly colored when the female is in the fertile stage of her reproductive cycle. This signals that the female can be approached by suitors.
An organism's general coloration, rather than a change in color may act as a visual signal. The bright coloration of some toxic species, such as the poison dart frog, acts as a do-not-eat warning signal to predators.
Tactile signals are more limited in range than the other signals, as two organisms must be right next to each other in order to touch and are common in insects. A honeybee forager that's found a food source will perform an intricate series of motions called a waggle dance to indicate the location of the food. Since this dance is done in darkness inside the nest, the other bees interpret it largely through touch. The signals also play a role in social relationships. In primates, members of a group will groom one another removing parasites & performing other hygiene tasks, which reinforces cooperation and social bonds among group members and play a role in the survival of very young organisms. Newborn puppies will instinctively knead at their mother's mammary glands, causing the release of the hormone oxytocin and production of milk.
