Possible communication by substrate vibration in a chameleon
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
1999 |
Authors: |
K.E. Barnett, R.B. Cocroft, L. J. Fleishman |
Publication/Journal: |
Copeia |
Keywords: |
chameleon, communication, vibration |
Abstract:
Plant-borne vibration is a common mode of communication among insects, but
its use in reptiles has never previously been reported. One of us (KEB) observed
that in response to humant ouch, veiled chameleons (Chamaelecoa lyptratus) produce
a distinct vibration which emanates from the body just anterior to the front legs.
We made accelerometer recordings from plants on which chameleons were placed
and determined that conspicuous vibratory signals were produced by males and
females in response to human touch. When an adult male was placed on a plant
with an adult female, it produced a variety of vibratory signals which varied in their
gross-temporal and frequency characteristics. We hypothesize that these vibrations
serve as vegetation-borne vibratory communication signals because (1) they were
barely audible or inaudible to humans, whose auditory sensitivity exceeds that of
chameleons but were easily detected by the accelerometer attached to a plant at 0.1
m distance and (2) they were produced in courtship and disturbance contexts in
which one might expect communication to take place.