North American red squirrels are a solitary, territorial species that confront various
predators. Previous research proposed that squirrels produce predator-specific, referential
‘seet’ and ‘bark’ alarm calls to aerial and ground predators, respectively. To test this
hypothesis, I examined alarm call production during natural encounters with predators,
conspecific intruders and in a series of predator simulation experiments. Call production
patterns were consistent across all types of disturbance and involved protracted bouts
where both call types were inter-mixed. Hence, the call types were not predator-specific
but rather their patterning reflected the persistence of disturbances of any type. Tests of
alternative call functions further indicated that calls were not actually directed at
conspecifics, but rather at predators and intruders and might function to deter or repel
them directly. These outcomes are consistent with life-history details of red squirrels and
contradict the proposal that this species produces predator-specific, referential alarm
calls. / xi, 153 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:ALU.w.uleth.ca/dspace#10133/2474 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Digweed, Shannon Marie, University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science |
| Contributors | Rendall, Drew |
| Publisher | Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Psychology, c2009, Arts and Science, Department of Psychology |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Relation | Thesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science) |
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