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Chuck Vocalizations of Wild Female Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) Contain Information on Caller Identity and Foraging Activity

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Abstract

Analysis of the acoustic signal of the chuck vocalizations of adult female squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) in Parque Nacional de Manu, Peru, revealed consistent differences within and between individuals. We quantified four peak frequency parameters: (a) the peak frequency of single chucks, (b) the first and (c) the second peak frequencies of double chucks, and (d) the peak difference: the difference between the first and the second double chuck peaks. One-way ANOVAs and a posteriori comparisons of these variables revealed that each distinguished more than 70% of all possible pairs of females. When all double chuck measures were included in a discriminant analysis, 57% of double chucks were correctly assigned to the caller. Another category of information potentially encoded in the acoustic structure of chuck vocalizations is foraging activity. When the chucks of squirrel monkeys during foraging and nonforaging activities were compared, the single chuck peak frequency, and the first peak frequency and the peak difference of double chucks, were significantly reduced during foraging contexts. Previously Boinski and Mitchell (1992) concluded that chucks facilitate group cohesion among widely dispersed troop members by providing information of the location of callers; the rate of chucks produced by an adult female increases as she becomes more spatially and visually separated from other adult females. The additional information potentially conveyed by chucks on caller identity and foraging activity documented in these new analyses further emphasizes the role chucks serve to enhance group coordination and cohesion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Division of Comparative Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 32611

    Sue Boinski

  2. Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, National Institutes of Health, NIH-Animal Center, Poolesville, Maryland.

    Sue Boinski

  3. Amazonian Biodiversity Project, Cusco, Perú

    Carol L. Mitchell

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  1. Sue Boinski
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Correspondence to Sue Boinski.

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Boinski, S., Mitchell, C.L. Chuck Vocalizations of Wild Female Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) Contain Information on Caller Identity and Foraging Activity. International Journal of Primatology 18, 975–993 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026300314739

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