Author: Vincent Guo
Editor: Ian Cho
Artist: Felicia Chen
At midnight, while you are lying in bed trying to sleep, you hear a sound: chirp, chirp, chirp. That sound is from a cricket, and chirping is its communication. Crickets use their chirping to attract mates. If you listen closely, you may hear a pattern in their sounds; depending on the pattern, you can differentiate between various species of crickets. Animals use a variety of signals to communicate and transfer information. These signals include auditory, visual, and chemical (pheromones).
Auditory signals are common in the animal kingdom. Birds use auditory signals to attract mates, send danger signals, and defend their territory. For example, gibbons produce calls to mark their territory, bullfrogs croak to attract females, and monkeys cry out to warn others of danger. Vervet monkeys can make different calls to indicate the type of approaching predator. Marine animals, such as dolphins, use whistles, chirps, and clicks to communicate underwater.
Visual communication utilizes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, and coloration. Chimpanzees may raise their arms or slap the ground when threatened and use staring as a threat gesture. Peacocks display their vibrant feathers to attract mates and to threaten predators by spreading their feathers to reveal eye-like patterns. Bright coloration in animals like dart frogs serves as a warning to predators that they are poisonous.
Pheromones are chemical substances animals use to communicate. Ants secrete pheromones to attract other ants to a food source or to signal danger. Bees also use pheromones for communication within the hive. Dogs mark their territory by urinating, leaving pheromones that signal their presence to other dogs.
These are just a few of the many ways animals have evolved to transmit information to each other. Whether it’s collaborating, finding a mate, or warding off predators, these communication methods are important for survival in the animal kingdom.
Citations:
Khan Academy. “Animal Communication (Article) | Ecology.” Khan Academy,
www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/ecology-ap/responses-to-the-
“Animal Communication - Signal Production.” Encyclopedia Britannica,
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