Editing Animal communication (section)

{{Short description|Transfer of information from animal to animal}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}<!--see first edit in history-->
{{Overly detailed|details=Too many examples given in most sections, and too many tangents into evolution and the theory of communication.  Cleanup needed.|date=November 2024}}

'''Animal communication''' is the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) that affects the current or future behavior of the receivers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Animal communication|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/animal-communication|access-date=2020-10-31|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20230920">{{cite news |last=Shah |first=Sonia |title=The Animals Are Talking. What Does It Mean? - Language was long understood as a human-only affair. New research suggests that isn't so. + comment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/magazine/animal-communication.html |date=20 September 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921011811/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/magazine/animal-communication.html#permid=127890141 |archivedate=21 September 2023 |accessdate=21 September 2023 }}</ref> Information may be sent intentionally, as in a [[courtship display]], or unintentionally, as in the transfer of scent from the predator to prey with [[kairomone]]s. Information may be transferred to an "audience" of several receivers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Seyfarth|first1=Robert M.|last2=Cheney|first2=Dorothy L.|date=2003-02-01|title=Signalers and Receivers in Animal Communication|url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145121|journal=Annual Review of Psychology|volume=54|issue=1|pages=145–173|doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145121|pmid=12359915|issn=0066-4308|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Animal communication is a rapidly growing area of study in disciplines including [[Ethology|animal behavior]], sociology, neurology, and [[animal cognition]]. Many aspects of animal behavior, such as symbolic name use, emotional expression, learning, and [[Animal sexual behavior|sexual behavior]], are being understood in new ways.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

When the information from the sender changes the behavior of a receiver, the information is referred to as a "signal". [[Signalling theory]] predicts that for a signal to be maintained in the population, both the sender and receiver should usually receive some benefit from the interaction. Signal production by senders and the perception and subsequent response of receivers are thought to [[coevolve]].<ref name="Maynard-Smith and Harper, 2003">Maynard-Smith and Harper, 2003</ref> Signals often involve multiple mechanisms, e.g., both visual and auditory, and for a signal to be understood, the coordinated behavior of both sender and receiver requires careful study.