Primate Pronouncements II

Dorothy Cheney and Robert Seyfarth are well known for their vocalization and behavior studies of vervet monkeys, as well as their more recent studies of baboons.  Vervet monkeys have different alarm calls depending on the predator.  Robert Seyfarth explains.



Here are a couple examples of their calls.

Primate Pronouncements

You've probably seen primates in zoos or on television or even online, but do you know what they sound like?  And if you've heard them, do you know why they are vocalizing?  Here are some examples of primate vocalizations along with what it is they are 'saying'.

Orangutans - "Male orangutans exhibit a curious and little-understood case of “bimaturism,” also referred to as “arrested development.” This means that there are two “types” of mature male orangutans: flanged and unflanged males. A flanged male has big cheek pads on the sides of his face and a large pendulous throat sack under his chin. An unflanged male has neither of these traits, and his body is usually smaller. Unflanged males are sexually mature and fully able to father offspring; females, however, seem to prefer to mate with the flanged males. Because of this, unflanged males often resort to “forceful copulation” in order to attain matings. Meanwhile, flanged males emit loud booming “long calls’, presumably to attract receptive females as well as to let other males know their whereabouts. It is not fully understood exactly when and why a mature male undergoes the transformation from unflanged to flanged, or even if every male undergoes this transformation (although it seems likely that he does eventually). It has been hypothesized that the existence of a dominant flanged male within the sensory range of an unflanged male inhibits the unflanged male’s development (by stimulating release of special hormones?). Thus, not until the dominant flanged male dies, moves away, or is defeated, or the subadult male himself moves away or stays low, can the unflanged male develop his cheek pads and large size."  from the Orangutan Foundation International.

Orangutan long call



Chimpanzee

"Dr. Jane Goodall’s long-term study of chimpanzee behavior at Gombe National Park helped scientists understand more about the diversity and meaning of chimpanzee calls. There are two types of chimpanzee calls:

Intraparty Calls – These calls take place between chimpanzees that are in the same group.

Distance Calls – These calls are made between groups that are separated, sometimes by a great distance.

One of the chimpanzee calls is the “pant-hoot.” Each individual chimpanzee has his or her own distinct pant-hoot. This helps other chimpanzees tell who is making the call even if they can’t see who is calling."  from the Jane Goodall Institute.

"High-ranking adult males pant-hoot most frequently. Females sometimes produce pant-hoots on their own and often join in a chorus of pant-hoots when others are calling. Chimpanzees pant-hoot in a variety of circumstances, such as arriving at fruit trees, responding to distant pant-hoots, when joining other community members, and when traveling."  Michael L. Wilson

Chimp pant-hoot



Gorilla

Gorillas are known for beating their chest, although to be honest it really doesn't sound too intimidating to humans.  It sounds more like they are trying to imitate the sounds of horse hooves..  "This behavior is done by all gorillas and the either one or two open-fist hands are clapped against the chest (Estes, 1991). Adult males produce a sound when doing this because of air sacs they have which are located on both sides of their throat (Estes, 1991). For the adult male this is a threat display (Estes, 1991)."  from Primates.com



A gorilla roar is much more impressive.



Gorillas have many types of vocalizations.  For more information, click here.


Gibbons

Gibbons probably have the most impressive voices.  When visiting the Denver Zoo, the gibbons were always the ones you could hear in most places in the entire zoo.  "All species of gibbons are known to produce elaborate, species-specific and sex-specific patterns of vocalisation often referred to as "songs" (Haimoff, 1984; Marshall & Marshall, 1976). Songs are loud and complex and are mainly uttered at specifically established times of day. In most species, mated pairs may characteristically combine their songs in a relatively rigid pattern to produce coordinated duet songs. Several functions have been attributed to gibbon songs, most of which emphasise a role in territorial advertisement, mate attraction and maintenance of pair and family bonds (Geissmann, 1999; Geissmann & Orgeldinger, 2000; Haimoff, 1984; Leighton, 1987)."  from the Gibbon Research Lab.

Gibbons singing??



Impressive or annoying??!!

Flashy Foliage

We're starting to get some color in the trees.  One big tree in the neighborhood started changing color back in August - but due to the dry weather and not temperature - and has lost a lot of leaves already..

The one big tree in the mobile home park has lost some leaves already too.  Here is a photo taken in September when it was just starting to turn.

Here's another photo taken just a few days ago.

Some trees are still green and others are already totally changed.  Here's one that's half and half!

The burning bushes are living up to their name.

Here are a few more photos of trees around the neighborhood.



The temperature was down to 40 when I went to bed last night and about 35 when I got up this morning!  Needless to say the heat was on all night long.

Murder on Manton Street

The story you are about to see is true; only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Saturday, September 27th, it was warm in Rhode Island.  It was 2:00 pm when I went outside to get the mail.  I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye.  I witnessed the cat Marty, aka Romeo, throwing something up in the air.  It was a chipmunk.

The suspect.

The victim.

It was only the second time I'd seen a chipmunk in the area.  By the time I realized what the suspect was doing, it was too late.  The chipmunk was a goner.  The cat Albert, aka Tigger, was questioned regarding his complicity in the crime.

Eye witnesses saw the suspect eating part of the chipmunk later in the day.

By Sunday all evidence of the crime had disappeared.  A roaming opossum was thought to be the suspect's accomplice.

The suspect was tried by a court in and for the County of Providence.  Since evidence of the crime was lost, the suspect was acquitted and set free.  We don’t even try to prove that crime doesn’t pay ... sometimes it does.

Generous Geese

September, the end of summer, cooler temperatures and the beginning of fall.  Can't believe it's here already.  Have been hearing lots of geese flying overhead lately - saw a pretty big flock just this morning.  I found this interesting video about them and thought I would share it.  Enjoy!



I wrote another post about geese about this time a few years ago.  You can learn more about geese here.

More of the Same

Sorry but it's another butterfly bush post.  The last few weeks I have been visited by THREE butterflies that are uncommon here in Rhode Island.  You already saw the Red-Spotted Purple.  Was also visited by a Spicebush Swallowtail.

and the Monarch-mimic, the Viceroy.  Do you know the difference?  Which is which??

The bottom two photos are the Viceroy.  You can see that the Monarch has two rows of white spots around the edges of its wings while the Viceroy only has one row, among other differences.

I hadn't seen any Monarchs all summer long and was thinking just that when I looked out and saw one.  Couldn't believe my eyes.  And the next day I saw a second one - at least I'm pretty sure it was a second one because it had a broken hind wing and the first one didn't.  The first visit almost ended in tragedy because as I was following it flying from blossom to blossom and snapping away it suddenly landed right next to a huge praying mantis!

The butterfly flitted away unharmed.  I had just seen a big grasshopper right about where the praying mantis was sitting.

I think maybe THAT was lunch and it wasn't hungry anymore.

I've seen the Viceroy several times now and I think the Spicebush was just here again yesterday, but I didn't get a very good look at it.  I'm sure you're hoping that this is the last butterfly bush post and it will be as long as I don't have any more surprise visitors.

The Demise of the Ugly Mushroom

Actually I'm not sure if what grew at my curb was a mushroom or a toadstool.  It seemed like it just suddenly appeared and I never noticed a small version of it growing. but then that is the meaning of the phrase, 'it mushroomed'.  I was surprised it grew at all since it's been so dry around here.  My mushroom started out looking like a white bald man's head with veins and blood vessels showing and then we had some rain and it turned brown.

At one point I measured it and it was 4 inches across.  It was around for a couple of weeks until one day I noticed that the cap had fallen off.

Not knowing whether it was poisonous or not and with all the stray cats and other critters around, I picked the cap up along with the stem, put them in a plastic bag and threw them in the garbage.  Very weird, but very interesting.

Another Newbie!

The butterfly bush is starting to wind down, having more dead blossoms on it now than blooming flowers.  The number of butterflies and bees have decreased, even the number of skippers that show up.  However, I had one other new visitor to the yard the other day and had a grand time taking photos and identifying it as a Red-Spotted Purple.  Just gorgeous!  The light wasn't great and the photos with its wings spread are kind of back lit, but was thrilled to have a new butterfly to add to the list.

 

 

 

According to the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, seeing this butterfly is uncommon in Rhode Island. I live near the Massachusetts border - I guess this one didn't get the memo about not crossing the state line!

Small Brown Snake

The other day on my way to the store I was walking to my car when I noticed a small snake sunning itself on my sidewalk.  I watched it for a few minutes; it was testing the air with its tongue - typical snake behavior.  I leaned over and just stroked it gently.  It slithered into the bushes and lily of the valley area of my garden.  It was not even a foot long – very cute. 

Source:  Wikipedia

I had never seen any snakes around before and was curious as to what it was.  I checked what species of snakes are found in Rhode Island, and decided it was a Northern Brown snake.

There are only 12 species of snake that are native to Rhode Island and all are perfectly harmless.  In Connecticut and Massachusetts, however, one species of rattlesnake can be found – the Timber Rattler.  And Copperheads are also found in southern New England, but none have ever been reported here either.  Good to know!

Fortuitous Fritillary

I happened glance out the window the other day only to see a new butterfly to my butterfly bush!  I ran out with my camera and got a few shots.

I know it's a Fritillary of some type and first identified it as a Meadow Fritillary, but now I think it might be a Great Spangled Fritillary.  I saw one also on a butterfly bush at Skylands Botanical Gardens when visiting friends in New Jersey.   Whatever it is, what a wonderful orange surprise to see in my yard!

Meticulous Mom

I spent 10 or 15 minutes watching the Steel Blue Cricket Hunter the other afternoon.  I had seen it several times scurrying around hunting for crickets.  It stings the cricket, paralyzing it, then carries it to a hole or burrow and then lays one egg on top of the still living cricket.  It takes only one day for the egg to hatch and the larva then eats the cricket.  In a previous post I showed the cricket hunter with one of its victims.  I then saw the wasp pick up the cricket and fly away with it.

This past week I saw the cricket hunter evidently after the deed had been accomplished and watched the meticulous mom covering up the hole where she presumably had already laid her egg.  I watched her carry pieces of grass and 'rocks' (actually debris from a newly laid sidewalk) covering up a small hole between the sidewalk and the edging stones.

She worked diligently for many minutes until she was finally satisfied with her work and then flew over toward my butterfly bushes and began another cricket search. 

Here's a video showing another cricket hunter also covering up an 'egg hole'.  Maybe you can see why I was so fascinated watching MY cricket hunter doing the same thing.

Butterfly Bush Update '14

There haven't been nearly as many butterflies around my butterfly bush this year as in years past.  I haven't seen a single Monarch butterfly.  There have been a few Painted Ladies, but again not as many as last year.  There have been quite a few skippers though, too many to try to identify. 

But one regular has been the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - the female, unlike many bird species, is flashier and larger...

than the male.

Actually the female is a dimorph and can either be yellow or black.  This black butterfly showed up this year...

but is it the dimorph or a Pipevine Swallowtail...

a Spicebush Swallowtail...

or a female Black Swallowtail???

Pretty sure it's a female Black Swallowtail.  Here are a couple of pictures of the female black form of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail courtesy of wisconsinbutterflies.org:

I've also seen photos where the female was half black and half yellow.

FYI here is a photo of the male Black Swallowtail.

Another visitor was this beautiful little green dragonfly.

And the ever present snowberry clearwing.  Lots of those this year.  You can really see where it gets its name in these photos.

So that's the report from the butterfly bush.  More on the Steel Blue Cricket Hunter in the next post.