Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2473018 | Der Zoologische Garten | 2010 | 14 Pages |
Abstract
Until now, unlike their relatives, rhinos and horses tapirs have received considerably less attention in studies about communication. Therefore, it was the aim of this study to test which stimuli contain acoustical information for tapirs. For this purpose, the reactions of tapirs on acoustical stimuli (playback of different animal voices) were examined. Research visits took place at the zoos of Berlin, Dortmund, Heidelberg, Munich, Nuremberg and Osnabrück during the year 2005. A total of 20 individuals, thereof 8 (4.4) Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) and 12 (4.8) Lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) attended the experiments. The playback experiments showed that tapirs distinguish between the voices of different animal species. The results point to the conclusion that the reactions of the tapirs relate to phylogeny. The most intense interest was taken in their own species followed by the closely related ones.
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Authors
Susanne Zenzinger,