Editing Mammal (section)

===Communication and vocalisation===
{{Further|Animal communication|Animal echolocation}}
[[File:Monkey & Baby.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Vervet monkey]]s use at least four distinct [[alarm signal|alarm calls]] for different [[predator]]s.<ref name=Seyfarth/>]]

Many mammals communicate by vocalising. Vocal communication serves many purposes, including in mating rituals, as [[alarm signal|warning calls]],<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zuberbühler K |title=Predator-specific alarm calls in Campbell's monkeys, ''Cercopithecus campbelli'' |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |volume=50 |issue=5 |year=2001 |pages=414–442 |jstor=4601985 |doi=10.1007/s002650100383|bibcode=2001BEcoS..50..414Z |s2cid=21374702 }}</ref> to indicate food sources, and for social purposes. Males often call during mating rituals to ward off other males and to attract females, as in the [[roar (vocalization)|roaring]] of [[lion]]s and [[red deer]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Slabbekoorn H, Smith TB | title = Bird song, ecology and speciation | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences | volume = 357 | issue = 1420 | pages = 493–503 | date = April 2002 | pmid = 12028787 | pmc = 1692962 | doi = 10.1098/rstb.2001.1056 }}</ref> The [[whale song|songs]] of the humpback whale may be signals to females;<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Bannister JL |chapter=Baleen Whales (Mysticetes) |pages=80–89 |title=Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals |edition=2nd | veditors = Perrin WF, Würsig B, Thewissen JG |editor3-link = Hans Thewissen |year=2008 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-373553-9 |chapter-url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=2rkHQpToi9sC |page=1007}}}}</ref> they have different dialects in different regions of the ocean.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Scott N |year=2002 |title=Creatures of Culture? Making the Case for Cultural Systems in Whales and Dolphins |journal=BioScience |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=9–14 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2002)052[0009:COCMTC]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=86121405 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Social vocalisations include the [[territory (animal)|territorial]] calls of [[gibbon]]s, and the use of frequency in [[greater spear-nosed bat]]s to distinguish between groups.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Boughman JW | title = Vocal learning by greater spear-nosed bats | journal = Proceedings. Biological Sciences | volume = 265 | issue = 1392 | pages = 227–233 | date = February 1998 | pmid = 9493408 | pmc = 1688873 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1998.0286 }}</ref> The [[vervet monkey]] gives a distinct alarm call for each of at least four different predators, and the reactions of other monkeys vary according to the call. For example, if an alarm call signals a python, the monkeys climb into the trees, whereas the eagle alarm causes monkeys to seek a hiding place on the ground.<ref name=Seyfarth>{{cite journal |vauthors=Seyfarth RM, Cheney DL, Marler P |title=Vervet Monkey Alarm Calls: Semantic communication in a Free-Ranging Primate |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=1070–1094 |year=1980 |doi=10.1016/S0003-3472(80)80097-2 |s2cid=53165940 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223576319 |access-date=22 September 2018 |archive-date=12 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912082142/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223576319_Vervet_Monkey_Alarm_Calls_Semantic_Communication_In_A_Free-Ranging_Primate |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Prairie dogs]] similarly have complex calls that signal the type, size, and speed of an approaching predator.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/prairie-dogs-language-decoded-by-scientists-1.1322230 |title=Prairie dogs' language decoded by scientists |date=21 June 2013 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=20 May 2015 |archive-date=22 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522024501/http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/prairie-dogs-language-decoded-by-scientists-1.1322230 |url-status=live }}</ref> Elephants communicate socially with a variety of sounds including snorting, screaming, trumpeting, roaring and rumbling. Some of the rumbling calls are [[infrasound|infrasonic]], below the hearing range of humans, and can be heard by other elephants up to {{convert|6|mi}} away at still times near sunrise and sunset.<ref>{{cite magazine | vauthors = Mayell H |title=Elephants Call Long-Distance After-Hours |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0303_040303_elephants.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040305154249/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0303_040303_elephants.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 March 2004 |magazine=National Geographic |access-date=15 November 2016 |date=3 March 2004}}</ref>
[[file:Killer whale.ogg|left|thumb|Orca calling including occasional echolocation clicks]]

Mammals signal by a variety of means. Many give visual [[Anti-predator adaptation|anti-predator signals]], as when deer and [[gazelle]] [[stotting|stot]], [[honest signal|honestly indicating]] their fit condition and their ability to escape,<ref>{{cite book | title=Animal Signals | publisher=Oxford University Press | vauthors = Smith JM, Harper D | year=2003 | author1-link=John Maynard Smith| pages=61–63 |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=SUA51MeG1lcC |page=61}}|isbn=978-0-19-852684-1 |oclc=54460090 |series=Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Stotting in Thomson's gazelles: an honest signal of condition |url=https://webs.wofford.edu/moellerjf/Animal%20Behavior%202011/stotting%20in%20gazelles.pdf | vauthors = FitzGibbon CD, Fanshawe JH |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |year=1988 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=69–74 |doi=10.1007/bf00299889 |bibcode=1988BEcoS..23...69F |s2cid=2809268 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225073844/http://webs.wofford.edu/moellerjf/Animal%20Behavior%202011/stotting%20in%20gazelles.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2014 }}</ref> or when [[white-tailed deer]] and other prey mammals flag with conspicuous tail markings when alarmed, informing the predator that it has been detected.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bildstein KL |title=Why White-Tailed Deer Flag Their Tails |journal=The American Naturalist |date=May 1983 |volume=121 |issue=5 |pages=709–715 |jstor=2460873 |doi=10.1086/284096|bibcode=1983ANat..121..709B |s2cid=83504795 }}</ref> Many mammals make use of [[scent-marking]], sometimes possibly to help defend territory, but probably with a range of functions both within and between species.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gosling LM | title = A reassessment of the function of scent marking in territories. | journal = Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie | date = January 1982 | volume = 60 | issue = 2 | pages = 89–118 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230317056 | doi = 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1982.tb00492.x | bibcode = 1982Ethol..60...89G | access-date = 12 October 2019 | archive-date = 27 March 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084413/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leonard_Gosling/publication/230317056_A_Reassessment_of_the_Function_of_Scent_Marking_in_Territories/links/59dcd8b4a6fdcca56e35e24c/A-Reassessment-of-the-Function-of-Scent-Marking-in-Territories.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zala SM, Potts WK, Penn DJ | title = Scent-marking displays provide honest signals of health and infection. | journal = Behavioral Ecology | date = March 2004 | volume = 15 | issue = 2 | pages = 338–344 | doi = 10.1093/beheco/arh022 | hdl = 10.1093/beheco/arh022 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Johnson RP |title=Scent Marking in Mammals |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=August 1973 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=521–535 |doi=10.1016/S0003-3472(73)80012-0}}</ref> [[Microbat]]s and [[toothed whale]]s including [[oceanic dolphin]]s vocalise both socially and in [[animal echolocation|echolocation]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Schevill WE, McBride AF | year=1956 | title=Evidence for echolocation by cetaceans | journal=Deep-Sea Research | volume=3 | issue=2 | pages=153–154 | doi=10.1016/0146-6313(56)90096-x |bibcode=1956DSR.....3..153S}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | vauthors = Wilson W, Moss C |year=2004 |title=Echolocation in Bats and Dolphins | veditors = Thomas J |page=22 |publisher=Chicago University Press |isbn=978-0-226-79599-7 |oclc=50143737}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=Q3MIsrPDA5EC |page=front}} | vauthors = Au WW |year=1993 |title=The Sonar of Dolphins |publisher=Springer-Verlag |isbn=978-3-540-97835-0 |oclc=26158593}}</ref>