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Conspicuousness and Diversity in Animal Signals

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Communication

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Ethology ((PEIE,volume 12))

Abstract

Animal signals that are conspicuous or extravagant are commonly explained as costly advertisements of ‘quality.’ There are, however, many other evolutionary explanations of conspicuousness, most notably those to do with ‘efficacy’ or factors making signals effective at getting their message across to receivers. Efficacy can be a major evolutionary force driving signals toward conspicuousness even if there is no selection pressure to advertise quality. Its effects have been widely underestimated through a failure to understand the variety of different ways in which it can act. Efficacy offers a variety of alternative explanations for the evolution of signals, including extravagant sexual signals and can also explain a further feature of animal signals, namely the diversity between species in the signals they use.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Zoology, University of Oxford, UK

    Marian Stamp Dawkins & Tim Guilford

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  1. Marian Stamp Dawkins
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  2. Tim Guilford
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, 95616, USA

    Donald H. Owings

  2. Animal Behavior Program Departments of Psychology and Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA

    Michael D. Beecher

  3. Departments of Biology and Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01610-1477, USA

    Nicholas S. Thompson

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Dawkins, M.S., Guilford, T. (1997). Conspicuousness and Diversity in Animal Signals. In: Owings, D.H., Beecher, M.D., Thompson, N.S. (eds) Communication. Perspectives in Ethology, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1745-4_3

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