Abstract
Field data on the whooping display in the Nilgiri langur were recorded in two ways: (1) the number of whoops heard while in the forest during a complete day; (2) the number of whoops heard by each of three troops while under constant observation from dawn to dusk for a total of 18 days. The temporal, visual, and auditory qualities of the display are described. Different methods of graphically representing the daily pattern of the whooping display are then exhibited. One method shows a main bimodal trend in whooping with a main peak in early morning and a smaller peak in the afternoon which is in accordance with other primate species. Secondarily, other ways of representing the data show that the morning peak is actually a series of peaks which decrease in magnitude after the initial peak. Additionally, the total amount of whooping is reduced during clear days and the initial morning peak is affected by the seasonal change in sunrise. The methods of representing data show that the gross trend of whooping is in reality a series of fluctuations which probably have relevance to the general activity as measured by the percent of individuals in the troop observed feeding. As in whooping the feeding activity when observed continuously in one troop for one day is a series of four to seven peaks rather than a bimodal distribution as represented by data of many days lumped together. A similar phenomenon of cycling in ontogenetic data is discussed.
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Horwich, R.H. The whooping display in nilgiri langurs: An example of daily fluctuations superimposed on a general trend. Primates 17, 419–431 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382905
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382905