"Universal Understanding: Sentinel Warning Calls Transcend Continents, Research Finds"
Originally Published 2 years ago — by Phys.org
Research suggests that sentinel warning calls, used by animals to alert others of nearby danger, may be universally understood across continents. A recent study found that birds in the Neotropics were responsive to unfamiliar alarm calls from North America. Researchers conducted experiments across three continents and found that flocks of birds responded equally strongly to the warning calls of an unfamiliar sentinel species as they did to familiar, local sentinel species. This suggests that there may be something about sentinel calls that makes them universally recognizable, possibly due to a central theme or unique acoustic elements. The study opens the door to further research on sentinel species and their communication signals.