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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–2Cite as

Alarm Calling Predicted by Inclusive Fitness

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Synonyms

Altruistic nepotism; Antipredatory behavior; Kin selection; Vocalization

Definition

Alarm calling: vocalizations that alert other animals to immediate danger (Sherman 1977).

Inclusive fitness: a theory to explain cases when an animal behaves in such a way as to promote the advantages of other members of the species not its direct descendants at the expense of its own (Hamilton 1963, p. 354).

Introduction

Alarm calling is an inherently dangerous behavior, and its adaptive function was poorly understood for decades. Calling individuals suffer direct costs (e.g., predation), and so the ultimate function was initially described as a residual behavior thought to have evolved as a signal from parents to offspring (Maynard-Smith 1965). Subsequent theories described the behavior as individually selective. Trivers (1971) suggested that alarm calls reduce the caller’s vulnerability, while calls may also reveal the predator’s location (Dawkins 1976) or else promote antipredatory...

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References

  • Bergstrom, C. T., & Lachmann, M. (2001). Alarm calls as costly signals of antipredator vigilance: The watchful babbler game. Animal Behaviour, 61, 535–543. doi:10.1006/anbe.2000.1636.

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  • Sherman, P. W. (1977). Nepotism and the evolution of alarm calls alarm calls of Belding’s ground squirrels warn relatives, and thus are expressions of nepotism. Science, 197(4310), 1246–1253. doi:10.1126/science.197.4310.1246.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

    Alex K. Piel

Authors
  1. Alex K. Piel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alex K. Piel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Piel, A.K. (2016). Alarm Calling Predicted by Inclusive Fitness. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1525-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1525-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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