Multimodal Signals, Imperfect Information, and Identification of Sex in Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus)

• Published in: Behavioral ecology and sociobiology Vol. 56; no. 2; pp. 132 - 139
• Main Authors: Page, Robert B., Jaeger, Robert G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.06.2004; Berlin Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amphibia and reptilia; Animal and plant ecology; Animal ethology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Autoecology; Biological and medical sciences; Caudata; Conspecifics; Datasets; Descriptive statistics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Male animals; Mating behavior; Mental stimulation; Olfaction; P values; Plethodon cinereus; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Reptiles & amphibians; Reptilia. Amphibia; Salamanders; Secretion; Signal detection; Vertebrata; Caudata; Stimulus modality; Sex; Amphibia; Information; Intruder; Vertebrata; Territorial behavior; Plethodon cinereus; Quality; Individual recognition; Olfaction; Captivity; Aggressiveness

Theoretical treatments and empirical studies both suggest that signals that occur in multiple sensory modes have superior detectabilities, discriminabilities, and memorabilities. There is also an intuitive link between signal detectability, discriminability, and memorability and the quality of infor...