title: Alarm signals of the Sichuan sika deer Cervus nippon sichuanicus.
abstract: Sichuan sika deer (Cervus nippon sichuanicus) is an endangered and endemic subspecies of sika deer to Sichuan Province, China. According to our observations in the wild, the Sichuan sika deer makes alarm signals in the presence of actual or potential predators. In order to test the variation of the rhythmic alarm calls in some sex/age classes and different risk contexts, we recorded alarm calls of Sichuan sika deer from 2 October to 30 November 2008 and from 4 April to 5 September 2009 in the Tiebu Nature Reserve, Zoige County, Sichuan Province, China, and made acoustic analysis of these alarm calls. The results showed that the fundamental frequencies of alarm signals of Sichuan sika deer tended to decrease with age, and were significantly higher for females than for males. Duration tended to increase with age, and was significantly longer for males than for females. The fundamental frequencies and duration of alarm calls in adults were significantly higher and shorter respectively in high-risk than in moderate-risk contexts.
authors: College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, People's Republic of China.
authors: Chengzhong
authors: C
authors: Yang
authors: Zhen
authors: Z
authors: Xiao
authors: Yanshu
authors: Y
authors: Guo
authors: Yuanqing
authors: Y
authors: Xiong
authors: Xiuyue
authors: X
authors: Zhang
authors: Bisong
authors: B
authors: Yue
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D003670:Deer / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012919:Social Behavior; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*