| Why do Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) form bellowing choruses: A playback approach | |
| Wang, Xianyan1,2; Wang, Ding1; Zhang, Song3; Wang, Chaolin3; Wang, Renping3; Wu, Xiaobing4; Wang, D, Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Hydrobiol, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China | |
| 2009-10-01 | |
| Source Publication | JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
 |
| ISSN | 0001-4966 |
| Volume | 126Issue:4Pages:2082-2087 |
| Abstract | Crocodilians are quite vocal relative to other reptile groups, and the alligators are among the most vocal of the crocodilians. The Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis, is usually solitary but engages in bellowing choruses in certain waters during the mating season. This paper reports the organization of Chinese alligator's bellowing choruses based upon field observations and playback experiments. Alligators of both genders engaged in the choruses, remaining immobile throughout and inclining toward bellowing synchronously (i.e., starting and finishing at about the same time). The choruses lasted about 10 min with abrupt onset and offset. Moreover, playback experiments revealed that both male and female alligators responded equally to bellowing stimuli from the same and opposite sexes and that none of the tested alligators approached the loudspeaker in spite of playback of male or female stimuli. These suggest that Chinese alligators. may not bellow to compete for or attract mates during the choruses. Instead, when their ecological behaviors, namely, dispersed inhabitation, multi-copulation, restricted mating season, etc., are considered, we hypothesize that they may synchronize bellows to enhance group detectability for assembling individuals into certain waters for subsequent copulations. (C) 2009 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3203667]; Crocodilians are quite vocal relative to other reptile groups, and the alligators are among the most vocal of the crocodilians. The Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis, is usually solitary but engages in bellowing choruses in certain waters during the mating season. This paper reports the organization of Chinese alligator's bellowing choruses based upon field observations and playback experiments. Alligators of both genders engaged in the choruses, remaining immobile throughout and inclining toward bellowing synchronously (i.e., starting and finishing at about the same time). The choruses lasted about 10 min with abrupt onset and offset. Moreover, playback experiments revealed that both male and female alligators responded equally to bellowing stimuli from the same and opposite sexes and that none of the tested alligators approached the loudspeaker in spite of playback of male or female stimuli. These suggest that Chinese alligators. may not bellow to compete for or attract mates during the choruses. Instead, when their ecological behaviors, namely, dispersed inhabitation, multi-copulation, restricted mating season, etc., are considered, we hypothesize that they may synchronize bellows to enhance group detectability for assembling individuals into certain waters for subsequent copulations. (C) 2009 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3203667] |
| Subtype | Article |
| Keyword | Treefrog Hyla-ebraccata Male Calling Behavior Neotropical Treefrog Female Choice Acoustic Interference American Alligator Sexual Selection Mating Success Communication Evolution |
| Department | [Wang, Xianyan; Wang, Ding] Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Hydrobiol, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China; [Wang, Xianyan] Chinese Acad Sci, Grad Sch, Beijing 100039, Peoples R China; [Zhang, Song; Wang, Chaolin; Wang, Renping] Anhui Res Ctr Chinese Alligator Reprod, Xuancheng 242034, Peoples R China; [Wu, Xiaobing] Anhui Normal Univ, Coll Life Sci, Wuhu 241000, Peoples R China |
| Subject Area | Acoustics |
| DOI | 10.1121/1.3203667 |
| WOS Headings | Science & Technology ; Technology ; Life Sciences & Biomedicine |
| Funding Organization | National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] ; National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] ; National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] ; National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] |
| Indexed By | SCI |
| Language | 英语 |
| WOS Research Area | Acoustics ; Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology |
| WOS Subject | Acoustics ; Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology |
| WOS ID | WOS:000270778600039 |
| WOS Keyword | TREEFROG HYLA-EBRACCATA ; MALE CALLING BEHAVIOR ; NEOTROPICAL TREEFROG ; FEMALE CHOICE ; ACOUSTIC INTERFERENCE ; AMERICAN ALLIGATOR ; SEXUAL SELECTION ; MATING SUCCESS ; COMMUNICATION ; EVOLUTION |
| Funding Organization | National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] ; National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] ; National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] ; National Basic Research Program of China [2007CB411600]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [30730018] |
| Citation statistics | |
| Document Type | 期刊论文 |
| Identifier | http://ir.ihb.ac.cn/handle/152342/7546 |
| Collection | 期刊论文 |
| Corresponding Author | Wang, D, Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Hydrobiol, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China |
| Affiliation | 1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Hydrobiol, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, Grad Sch, Beijing 100039, Peoples R China 3.Anhui Res Ctr Chinese Alligator Reprod, Xuancheng 242034, Peoples R China 4.Anhui Normal Univ, Coll Life Sci, Wuhu 241000, Peoples R China |
| Recommended Citation GB/T 7714 | Wang, Xianyan,Wang, Ding,Zhang, Song,et al. Why do Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) form bellowing choruses: A playback approach[J]. JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA,2009,126(4):2082-2087. |
| APA | Wang, Xianyan.,Wang, Ding.,Zhang, Song.,Wang, Chaolin.,Wang, Renping.,...&Wang, D, Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Hydrobiol, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China.(2009).Why do Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) form bellowing choruses: A playback approach.JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA,126(4),2082-2087. |
| MLA | Wang, Xianyan,et al."Why do Chinese alligators (Alligator sinensis) form bellowing choruses: A playback approach".JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 126.4(2009):2082-2087. |
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