Spotted Hyenas All Sound Different When They Call – They Can Tell Friend From Foe

[NamStay]

Spotted hyenas all sound different when they call – they can tell friend from foe

Machine learning techniques showed that individual identity is important to spotted hyenas.

theconversation.com

On quiet nights across large swaths of the African bush, you may hear a series of whooping calls in the distance. This unique sound is the long-distance vocalisation used by spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) to communicate with each other.

For hyenas, it’s advantageous to know who is calling before deciding to respond. They don’t treat every member of their group the same – and the caller could even be an intruder in their territory.

In animal societies, identity signals are common. They mediate interactions within groups and allow individuals to discriminate group-mates from out-group competitors. However, individual recognition becomes increasingly challenging as group size increases and as signals must be transmitted over greater distances.

We hypothesised that for hyenas long-distance calls could be used to determine the individual identity and the group membership of the caller......

 

[Sue Tidwell]

Spotted hyenas all sound different when they call – they can tell friend from foe

Machine learning techniques showed that individual identity is important to spotted hyenas.

theconversation.com

On quiet nights across large swaths of the African bush, you may hear a series of whooping calls in the distance. This unique sound is the long-distance vocalisation used by spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) to communicate with each other.

For hyenas, it’s advantageous to know who is calling before deciding to respond. They don’t treat every member of their group the same – and the caller could even be an intruder in their territory.

In animal societies, identity signals are common. They mediate interactions within groups and allow individuals to discriminate group-mates from out-group competitors. However, individual recognition becomes increasingly challenging as group size increases and as signals must be transmitted over greater distances.

We hypothesised that for hyenas long-distance calls could be used to determine the individual identity and the group membership of the caller......


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I find hyenas utterly fascinating. When going to Africa, like many people, I was a bit disgusted by them …but after learning about them they are now one of my favorite animals. And one thing is for sure, the wilds of Africa would not be the same without their ghostly compositions in what I call “The Africa Symphony”.