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Alarm Calling and Kinship

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Alert call; Altruistic behavior; Kin selection; Warning call

Definition

Vocal behavior of prey animals to defend themselves and others from predation.

Introduction

Alarm calling is a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom, usually produced by individuals during predation attempts, a context with large fitness consequences, suggesting that the behavior has been under strong selection pressure. But there is something paradoxical about animal alarm calls. Why should an individual, faced with a potentially lethal predator, behave in conspicuous ways to warn others, rather than trying to escape or hide from the danger? This seemingly altruistic behavior has posed a major challenge for evolutionary theory and become the topic of countless studies. Two major research themes have been addressed with studies on animal alarm calls: the cognitive processes involved in call production and perception and the evolutionary forces that have shaped the behavior. The following sections...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Claudia Stephan & Klaus Zuberbühler

  2. St Andrews University, St Andrews, UK

    Klaus Zuberbühler

Authors
  1. Claudia Stephan
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  2. Klaus Zuberbühler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claudia Stephan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Minna Lyons

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Stephan, C., Zuberbühler, K. (2016). Alarm Calling and Kinship. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1512-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1512-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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