Life / Biology & Genetics

Vervet monkey alarm calls

Seyfarth, Cheney and Marler (1980) found distinct vervet alarm calls for leopards, eagles and snakes; played-back calls alone trigger the matching escape.

Hidden loudspeakers played recorded alarms with no predator present: monkeys ran into trees for leopard calls, looked up for eagle calls and down for snake calls. Playback became a standard field method, yet clear predator-specific alarms have been found in only a small number of other species.