Behavior as a systematic tool: an example of vocalizations in doves

MAHLER, B.; TUBARO, P. L.

Zurich, Suiza

Congreso; VIII International Behavioral Ecology Congress; 2000

ISBE

The genus Zenaida is considered to include between five and seven species of New World doves. These species are defined by their morphological characters. Vocalizations in this group are innate and stereotyped and thus, a species-specific behavior. In this study we analyzed the perch-coo vocalizations, hereafter referred to as song, in order to evaluate the use of behavior in systematic research. On sonograms of 42 different individuals we measured several acoustic variables: total duration of the song, number of elements of the song, maximum frequency, minimum frequency, bandwidth (maximum frequency – minimum frequency), peak frequency (frequency with the highest amplitude in the song), sound percentage (summed duration of the elements divided by the total duration) and mean duration of the elements (summed duration of the elements divided by the number of elements). Variables were log-transformed and standardized and subjected to different multivariate analyses. Zenaida galapagoensis is considered the sister taxa of all other members of the group and also has a very different song structure. Within the latter clade, closely related species tend to have similar song characters. Additionally, Z. asiatica meloda is morphologically different from the nominal race and also differs significantly in its vocalization. These results suggest that information contained in innate behavioral characters is useful for phylogenetic studies.