Alarm calls are widespread in nature, and researchers are exploring why such calls are given, as they may draw attention to the animal giving the signal, and thus put its life at risk. Other researchers are looking at what the different calls signify in order to learn how animals communicate, and ultimately use this knowledge to determine how human cognition has evolved. This paper will look at the alarm calls of some animal species, what they signify, how they have developed, and how they relate to the animal's habitat.
Alarm calls of animals are part of a complex language system, with different calls being used to warn of different predators and triggering different survival actions, depending on the animal species, according to Milius (1998). For example, a vervet monkey can make three different kinds of alarm calls, and each one results in a different flight or hiding behavior in other monkeys who hear it. Marmots around the world are known to make a variety of alarm sounds, depending on the species, and to date, 13 different alarm sounds have been noted. Many species are also known to give false alarm signals to disperse competitors from food supplies (Griffin, 1992, p. 201). For example, great tits often give off uncalled for alarm calls to scare away sparrows monopolizing a concentrated food source.
Budiansky believes that scientists are reading far too much into these calls and are guilty of anthropomorphism (1998, p. 37). He contends that one problem with this approach is that the same "word" in animal language is used under highly varying circumstances, and different signals, even different regional dialects, are often employed in identical situations (p. 136). He believes that animals respond to the acoustics of sound rather than specific meanings. Budiansky believes that the evolutionary perspective underscores the important fact that alarm calls don't evolve because they "mean" something; they evolve beca...