Mother and kid goat vocals strike a chord
(萌妹社区Org.com) -- Mother and kid goats recognize each other鈥檚 calls soon after the mothers give birth, new research from Queen Mary, University of London reveals.
The study, published in the journal Animal Cognition, measured the individuality of the goats鈥� calls and the ability of goats to recognise the individual differences.
Scientists Dr. Elodie Briefer and Dr. Alan McElligott from Queen Mary鈥檚 School of Biological and Chemical Sciences found that mother and kid goats react more to the calls from their own kids and mothers than they do from other goats they know.
Dr. Briefer said: 鈥淕oats in the wild have an antipredator strategy called 鈥榟iding鈥� where the young stay hidden in vegetation during the first week after being born to avoid being detected by predators.鈥�
鈥淎s hiders are isolated, they don鈥檛 move around a lot and are mostly silent to avoid detection from predators, we thought kid calls would not necessarily be individualized and therefore not easy to recognize.鈥�
Dr. Briefer and Dr. McElligott measured the individuality of calls and the vocal recognition during this 鈥榟iding鈥� phase (one week old) and later on after they had joined the social group, at five weeks old. The research was carried out at White Post Farm, Nottinghamshire, UK.
鈥淪tudying the link between vocal signals and species ecology can help us understand how animal communication evolves,鈥� Dr. Briefer said.
鈥淲e were surprised when we found that even at one week, both mothers and kids react more to calls from their own kids and mothers than those from other familiar goats.
鈥淭he ability of goats to recognize each other鈥檚 calls and respond appropriately suggests some robust mechanisms of memorization and recognition in goats.鈥�
鈥淪tudying how domestic livestock behave and communicate is very important for good animal welfare.鈥�
Provided by Queen Mary, University of London
