Faecal glucocorticoid metabolites and alarm calling in free-living yellow-bellied marmots

Abstract

Abstract When individuals of a variety of species encounter a potential predator, some, but not all, emit alarm calls. To explain the proximate basis of this variation, we compared faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in live-trapped yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) between occasions when they did and did not emit alarm calls. We found that marmots had significantly higher glucocorticoid levels when they called than when they did not call, suggesting that stress or arousal may play an important role in potentiating alarm calls. Marmots are sensitive to variation in the reliability of callers. The present finding provides one possible mechanism underlying caller variation: physiological arousal influences the propensity to emit alarm calls.

Knowledge graph centered on Faecal glucocorticoid metabolites and alarm callin with 32 nodes and 178 connections. Top connected: Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Marmota, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Pekania pennanti.

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