A team of scientists has revealed how communication enables cooperation between different species of animals.
This highlights how movements, visual displays, calls and other behavioral aspects help coordinate interactions and align interests across species boundaries.
In new, published this Thursday in Animal Behaviourby bringing together examples of birds, fish, insects and mammals, the authors highlight the different ways in which animals exchange information to organize their actions and maintain mutually beneficial partnerships.
According to , some fish and shrimp have bright colors and use characteristic body movements to safely clean predatory fish species, while larvae of the butterfly family Lycaenidae They use chemical and vibrational signals to persuade ants to protect them instead of eating them.
“From the examples we know of, individuals coordinate their actions to access shared resources, such as food, or to exchange resources for services, such as protection from predators,” said the study’s first author, Katie Dunkley.
Diverse species draw on multiple senses to improve communication, and the analysis suggests that focusing solely on visual cues can lead to overlooking important ways in which animals exchange information.
Some signals are stable and predictable, such as the head-down or tail-up postures of fish seeking cleaning services, while others vary depending on locations and ecological contexts.
The analysis also explores how communication systems between species can evolve. Some signals start out as simple clues, characteristics or behaviors that influence the way others react, despite not initially having evolved for communication purposes.
Finally, this review opens new avenues for the study of evolution of communication beyond the boundaries between species and the ecological importance of cooperation between species.
It also highlights the need for more comprehensive studies and more experimental work to understand how signals emerge, persist, and shape cooperative behavior.
