Questions and Answers
What percentage of rhinos were able to evade humans undetected due to the presence of oxpeckers?
40%–50%
What is the Swahili name for the red-billed oxpecker, and what does it mean?
Askari wa kifaru, the rhinos' guard
How did the presence of oxpeckers affect the rate and distance of rhinos detecting human approach?
Rate increased from 23% to 100%, and distance increased from 27 ± 6 m to 61 ± 4 m
How did rhinos respond to oxpeckers' alarm calls, and what did they assume about the direction of the threat?
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What is the effect of each additional oxpecker on the detection distance of rhinos?
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Why do solitary-living species, such as black rhinos, benefit from eavesdropping on other species' alarm calls?
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What is the advantage of eavesdropping for social and communicative species, according to evolutionary theory?
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What is the primary reason why black rhinos are critically endangered?
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What was the purpose of the 86 experimental approaches to 11 rhinos in the study?
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What do oxpeckers' alarm calls communicate to rhinos?
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Why do rhinos move to face downwind when alerted by oxpeckers' alarm calls?
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What type of species are black rhinos, and what is the implication for their social behavior?
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Study Notes
Anti-Predator Eavesdropping
- Oxpeckers enabled around 40%–50% of rhinos to evade humans undetected.
- Black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) are a solitary-living, non-vocal species and are critically endangered due to hunting.
Oxpeckers' Role in Rhino Protection
- The Swahili name for the red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorynchus) is "Askari wa kifaru", meaning the rhinos' guard.
- Oxpeckers' alarm calls significantly improved the rate and distance that rhinos detected human approach from 23% to 100% and 27 ± 6 m to 61 ± 4 m, respectively.
Effect of Multiple Oxpeckers
- Every additional oxpecker improved detection distance by 9 m.
Rhino Response to Oxpeckers' Alarm Calls
- Rhinos alerted by oxpeckers' alarm calls never re-oriented in the human direction but moved to face downwind.
- Oxpeckers' calls communicate only threat proximity, not direction, and rhinos assume the hunter is stalking from downwind.
Conservation Implications
- Conservationists should consider reintroducing oxpeckers to rhino populations, reinstating their anti-human sentinel.
- The importance of depredation, not sociality, in the evolution of eavesdropping is confirmed.
Anti-Predator Eavesdropping
- Oxpeckers enabled around 40%–50% of rhinos to evade humans undetected.
- Black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) are a solitary-living, non-vocal species and are critically endangered due to hunting.
Oxpeckers' Role in Rhino Protection
- The Swahili name for the red-billed oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorynchus) is "Askari wa kifaru", meaning the rhinos' guard.
- Oxpeckers' alarm calls significantly improved the rate and distance that rhinos detected human approach from 23% to 100% and 27 ± 6 m to 61 ± 4 m, respectively.
Effect of Multiple Oxpeckers
- Every additional oxpecker improved detection distance by 9 m.
Rhino Response to Oxpeckers' Alarm Calls
- Rhinos alerted by oxpeckers' alarm calls never re-oriented in the human direction but moved to face downwind.
- Oxpeckers' calls communicate only threat proximity, not direction, and rhinos assume the hunter is stalking from downwind.
Conservation Implications
- Conservationists should consider reintroducing oxpeckers to rhino populations, reinstating their anti-human sentinel.
- The importance of depredation, not sociality, in the evolution of eavesdropping is confirmed.
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