Tiger Communication

Range:

The area that a tiger lives in is called its range. This range can be anywhere from 10 to 30 square miles long. Young tigers will then leave there mothers range and go find a new one when they become an adult. Tigers have an amazing sense of smell. Smell is the main thing that tigers use to communicate with each other. Tigers use their own urine and dung to mark their ranges. When a tiger shoots urine at a tree the other tigers can smell it for up to 40 days.  Female tigers also use what is called scent marking which they do to attract male companions when they need to mate. This is not the only way scent marking is used. They can also use this to scare off other tigers wanting her range. The most known way for a tiger to communicate would have to be the great big roar that you can hear from 2 to 3 km away. This roar is used to fend off other tigers that are looking to harm them. It is very rare that one male tiger will accept another male tiger into his range. 

Communication: 

Prusten is a short, noisy, low intensity sound used as a friendly greeting between the mom and her cubs. A tiger’s visual is pretty much the same as any other cats. For instance when a tiger shows aggression it throws its tail up usually lashed from side to side. The ears are twisted so that they are inside out. But when greeting another tiger, the tiger’s ears are held up high and alert and the tail is also held straight up. Chuffing is a friendly way to vocalize that you want to be friends with the tiger that they are meeting. When a tiger moans it is almost like a very quiet roar made while they are calmly strolling around. Purring is the other type of communication that most people are familiar with when it comes to the tiger. This is generally believed to be a sign of contentment. Tigers are also able to meow just like any other cat. Tigers in general communicate by rubbing up against each other exchanging scents along the way.

Interesting facts:

Tigers actually have quiet good eyes, not the best but still better than humans. Due to tigers individual scent glands compared to other cats they can smell things better from further away. Tigers live anywhere between 10 to 15 years old. Due to the isolated regions where tigers generally reside, there is still a great deal we don’t know about their communication. Those in captivity are generally fine with living in a group of two at the most. More than that though is going to create issues with tigers being harmed or killed. Even in a zoo you will find that they usually leave each other alone and have their own territory that they cover in the shared area. Tigers are on the priority extinction list along with whales, dolphins, the giant panda, rhinos, gorillas, and finally marine turtles. The very sad truth about tigers unfortunately is that there are only 3062 tigers left on the earth and we aren’t doing much to keep that number from going down.

Cetacean Sleep

How do Cetaceans Sleep and Rest?

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are remarkable creatures and can stay underwater for very long periods of time. But that is not to say that they do not need to come up for air very regularly as they do not have gills, like fish or sharks. Cetaceans are ‘conscious breathers’, meaning they must always be thinking about when to breathe, whilst we humans are ‘involuntary breathers’ and have a reflex to make ourselves breathe when we are not thinking about it. So this already brings up some obstacles for a tired whale or dolphin. Though there is a way for them to get all the rest they need. Some cetaceans will lie at the surface of the ocean usually with their blowholes somewhat exposed to air, this is called “logging” as they look like a large logs floating at the surface of the ocean. They then shut down half of their brain and may close one eye. This puts them in the similar state humans are in when having a light nap. This way the whale can still be alert for predators and other dangers. Some whales and dolphins may not lie directly at the surface, but can still float to the top when they need to breathe. Some may even continuously swim forward. A sleeping whale’s breathing is much less frequent than that of a moving whale’s. As you can see, cetacean sleep differs throughout species. Captive dolphins have been known to rest at the bottom of their tanks for minutes at a time.

          One thing that researchers have noticed about sleep in whales and dolphins is that they do not seem to experience rapid eye movement. This is the stage of which most of our dreaming occurs. This could be because they only shut down half of their brain and do not drift into a deep sleep.

Sleep is important for juvenile whales too. A young cetacean will usually sleep and rest behind their mother while she tows them along in her slipstream. The mother may sleep at this time, but will still be constantly moving forward. Sleeping is risky for young whales as they are not able to swim strongly and may still rely on their mother for protection.

             Sleep in cetaceans is being constantly studied. There are still many undiscovered things about whales and dolphins. For instance there is still speculation over the fact that sperm whales may actually sleep with both sides of their brain shut down. This is because a research boat once approached a resting sperm whale, and it did not react in the slightest. Scientists believe that some whales sleep about 71% of the time, between the hours of 6pm and midnight. As a general comparison, humans sleep about 28-30% of the time.

Bibliography

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/mammals/question643.htm 

http://marinelife.about.com/od/cetaceans/f/whalessleep.htm

http://marinelife.about.com/b/2009/03/03/do-whales-sleep.htm

http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Do-Whales-Sleep-79328.shtml

Reverse Peristalsis in cows

Reverse Peristalsis in Cows

Vomiting:

            A commonly asked question about ruminants (animals such as cows, sheep, dogs that can digest plant material) is can they vomit. Considering cows and sheep have four compartments to their stomachs; Rumen, Reticulum, Omasum, Abomasum, people started a rumor implying that cows cannot vomit. This is not completely true because it is possible for them too, just not common. Each of the cows’ four stomachs has a different, important purpose. The rumen, or the first stomach, is the largest of the four and is where the cow’s supply protein is created and gathered. The second chamber or the Reticulum acts as a screen in the cows’ digestion because it gets rid of all unwanted objects of the cows’ body such as wire fences and nails by having the stomach acids degrade it. This is also the part of the stomach where the cud comes back up to be chewed again. The Omasum does basically the same things as the Reticulum, except it blocks bad grasses and plants. The last part of the stomach is known as the Abomasum which is the most human like part of their stomach. This is the connection between the stomach and the intestines and is where all the cow’s essential nutrients from the grasses it eats are collected.

            There are very few things that actually cause cows to vomit and it is extremely rare. Nervousness, excitement, pain, and no or low course fiber (does no dissolve in water, helps with digestion, making it necessary) in the diet. When cows are nervous or stressed the action of regurgitation, (when cows eat grass and bring it back up to be chewed again, making digestion easier) stops. This is because the cow gets rattled and it messes up the brains process on making the digestive tract work. If a cow is seen vomiting it is suggested they are taken to medical help as soon as possible.

Regurgitation:

            Regurgitation is not to be confused with vomiting. Unlike vomiting in cows, regurgitation is an everyday eating process. Regurgitation is how the ruminant animals digest their food considering the diets of these animals is all plant based. Regurgitation is when a cow chews the plants, then swallows and it goes through the Rumen and Reticulum, but then is brought back up the esophagus to be chewed again. This process can last for hours and is very repetitive. In fact, 30-40 percent of a cows’ day is spent regurgitating cud (cud is the plant material AFTER its been brought back up the esophagus at least once)

      

Watch a cow in action!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G-boOuga68

Orca Communication

Orca Communication

            Many of us wonder what our pets are saying. Over time we learn what they want by their actions, but we never understand fully what they are saying. It’s the same for spectators and wild animals. Each species has its own language, almost like different cultures and back grounds of humans, but unlike animals we have a common language; English.

            Orcas are remarkable creatures and communication lies at the core of orca social awareness. Family members are seldom out of ear shot of other family members. Orca calls can be as loud as jet plane engines and they echo over miles and miles in the ocean. In a pod, every orca knows where he or she is, and where the others are. Each orca in a pod shares a high attachment to one another, and given this strength of attachment, communicating to each other and knowing where everyone is must be quite calming to them. Communication is essential glue to maintaining harmony in an orca community.

            Orcas make three different types of vocalization: clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls. The clicks are part of the orcas sonar and are used for echolocation; for finding and locating food sources, for defining other objects in the ocean, and for locating where the orca is in its environment. An orca echo locates by producing clicks and then receiving and interpreting the resulting echo. The click trains pass through the melon (the rounded region of an orcas forehead), which consists of fats.  Echo locating orcas can determine the shape, distance, size, direction, speed, and even some of the internal structure of objects around them in the water. Whistles are typically continuous tone emissions that can last for many seconds. The melon acts as an acoustical lens to focus these sounds into a beam, which is projected forward into the water ahead of the orca.  Resident orcas use whistles as private signals during close-range communication. Pulsed calls are the most common vocalization of orcas. Other experts think pulsed calls are used in group recognition and coordination of behavior.  Calls that sound the same time after time are known as stereotyped calls.

            Calls, simply put, are pulsed signals that have discreet patterns that can be recognized by ear and spectrogram. They are the main component of the orca communication repertoire. Each pod has its own select dialect which differentiates one pod from another. After recognizing that each pod has its own “dialect,” john ford was able to group pods with similar dialects into larger groups, which he referred to as ‘clans’. The sound of the calls is created by moving air between their nasal sacs in the blowhole region. Humans make sound by forcing air through the larynx, and the vocal cords in the larynx vibrate as air flows across them, therefore producing sound. During some vocalizations an orca will release air through the blowhole creating bubbles, but this is most likely just a visual display. Creating bubbles during communication is not actually needed.  An orca can produce sound form at least two separate sources in its complex of nasal sacs.

            A calf learns a repertoire of calls selectively from its mother and can vocalize within days of its birth, but vocalization matures with age. The first calls of a calf are known as screams, they are high pitched and unlike any calls of adult orcas. In about two months a calf can produce their first pulsed calls that sound similar to the calls of an adult orca. From about two to six months of age, a calf’s repertoire increases, and the calf will continue to learn calls until puberty.

            An orca, Luna, was separated from his pod as a young calf. He appeared on the coast of Vancouver Island by himself, and he kept coming up to humans and playing with their boats. It’s believed that he wanted to make friends, that he craved attention. He did amazing things trying to create a bond with the humans. Because humans and orcas don’t share the same way of communicating, Luna attempted other forms of communicating. Luna would imitate the sounds of a motor boat in an attempt to talk to the people in the boat. Luna captured the hearts of many humans, by playing tug and rolling on to his side and looking people in the eye. Luna learnt different forms to communicate with the people near him, he would imitate sounds he heard or he would bang the hulls of boats to get your attention, he would imitate motors, or chainsaws, Luna would even slap the water. A young First Nations boy, Jaime, would whistle to Luna and Luna would whistle back. There is a documentary all about Luna called Saving Luna. There are videos all about him on YouTube, the following is just one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEyf7Z9dpHE.  This story tells us that orcas are very intelligent; if they run into a road block they find ways to overcome it.

The following are links to websites containing sounds of different orca dialects and websites in which I found information:

-         http://wildwhales.org/killer-whale/

-         http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~ford/

-         http://www.orcalab.org/about-orcas/information/communication/index.htm

-         http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/killer-whale/communication.htm

-         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEyf7Z9dpHE

-         Images from Google

Elephant Communication

Elephant Communication

Elephants communicate using various different senses: vision, hearing, smell and touch, and have an anomalous ability to sense vibrations.

Their main forms of communications are acoustic, chemical, tactile and visual.

Acoustic

            Acoustic communication is through sound. Due to its abruptness, this form of communicating is useful in immediate situation. It would often be used in a situation such as a predator being nearby. Elephants are excellent communicators in long distances of up to ten kilometers due to the low frequency of the sounds they produce.

            Elephants are able to produce both quiet and very powerful sounds at much different frequencies and sound vibrations than humans. The loudest sound an elephant can make is almost as loud as a jet taking off! The average adult elephant produces rumbles at the rate of 12Hz, almost three octaves lower than that of an adult man, averaging at 120Hz. A human is most often able to make sounds that fluctuate around a single octave, but sometimes reach two or even three among singers. Elephants are able to produce sounds that range over ten different octaves!

Chemical/Olfactory

Elephants have an exceptional olfactory sense, much different than that of humans. They are able to smell and sense smells and pheromones we cannot imagine. They use this towards their advantage, and often use it as a communicative method.

Elephants are able to pick up signals from others in multiple different ways: they can pick up signals about their fellow elephants through their waste. Elephants have multiple glands throughout their bodies that release a few different pheromones that other elephants can pick up and register as specific signals. These might include elephants being ready to mate, being hurt, etc.

An elephant has a phenomenal sense of smell, even much more acute than a dog’s. An elephant picks up smells through its trunk, which houses seven scrolls of bones and tissue especially designed to pick up smells and hormones. Elephants have been known to be very keen sniffers, at times able to pick up smells of others from as far as 2km away!

Tactile

Elephants are very tactile animals when they interact with each other, and might use their ears, tusks, feet and trunks to display power, respect, playfulness and anger. They often use their ears to playfully caress each other as a display of affection. They might use their tusks to display dominance and fight another elephant, or they might use them to carefully pick up a calf. They can also use their feet to be playful in the water or to aggressively ram against one another.

As for many other tasks, their trunks are vital in tactile communication. An elephant’s sense of touch relies on the trunk as much as humans do on their hands. The trunk is comprised of many small grooves that help it sense things with surprising precision. This helps them communicate with one another as they can send many different signals to other elephants, whether they are aggressive, friendly or romantic.

Visual

Elephants’ eyesight is rather poor compared to other mammals, especially in bright light, but they still manage to have many visual signals to communicate with one another. Elephants have been observed to not be able to see things 20m away, yet at other times they can see other elephants’ visual signals from as far as 50m away.  They have a system of over 150 different signals that they might use to communicate to one another at short distances.

Summarizing elephants’ signals would be a tough task, yet we can group them into a few classifications. One is the body part they are using to send this signal, such as the trunk, ears, or even whole body. The other would include the different types of signals they might be indicating, including dominance, danger, affection and anger at another.

Here are some examples of just several known signals scientists have observed with elephants:

·         Defensive behavior can be observed when an elephant back up, flattens the ears and arching the back

·         Dominance would be visualized with standing tall, spreading the ears and tossing the trunk

·         They might display agitation with other elephants by kicking up dust at them.

Elephants have been observed to be some of the most effective communicators on the planet, as they make use of almost all their senses to do so. This is partially due to their acute senses and to their high level of intelligence. As they are able to use their sense of smell, touch and sight to communicate a very wide range of different signals, each one specific to a certain situation. This ability to understand one another helps elephants survive and live more successfully in communities, a characteristic not many mammals have.

Sources of information:

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/elephants/communication.htm

http://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-communication/why-how-and-what-elephants-communicate.html