Editing Vervet monkey (section)

=== Alarm calls and offspring recognition ===
Vervet monkeys have four confirmed [[predator]]s: leopards, eagles, pythons, and baboons. The sighting of each predator elicits an acoustically distinct alarm call.<ref name="alarm">{{cite journal| last = Seyfarth| first = R. M. |author2=Cheney, D. L |author3=Marler, P.| title =Vervet monkey alarm calls: semantic communication in a free-ranging primate|journal = [[Animal Behaviour (journal)|Animal Behaviour]]| volume =28 | issue = 4| pages =1070–1094| date =1980| doi = 10.1016/S0003-3472(80)80097-2| s2cid = 53165940 }}</ref> As infants, vervets learn to make the variety of calls from observation alone, without explicit tutelage. In experimentation with unreliable signalers, individuals became habituated to incorrect calls from a specific individual. Though the response was lessened for a specific predator, if an unreliable individual gives an [[alarm call]] for a different predator, group members respond as if the alarm caller is, in fact, reliable. This suggests vervet monkeys are able to recognize and to respond to not only the individual calling, but also to the semantics of what the individual is communicating.<ref name="fakealarm">{{cite journal| last = Cheney| first = D. L.|author2=Seyfarth, R.M. | title =Assessment of meaning and the detection of unreliable signals by vervet monkeys|journal = [[Animal Behaviour (journal)|Animal Behaviour]]| volume =36| issue = 2| pages =477–486| date =1988| doi = 10.1016/S0003-3472(88)80018-6| s2cid = 53167785}}</ref> Vervet monkeys are thought to have up to 30 different alarm calls. In the wild, they have been seen giving a different call when seeing a human being approaching, leading researchers to believe that vervet monkeys may have a way of distinguishing between different land and flight predators.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Estes|first1=Richard Despard|title=The behaviour guide to African mammals|date=2012|publisher=University of California press|location=London England|edition=20th Anniversary}}</ref>

Mothers can recognise their offspring by a scream alone. A juvenile scream elicits a reaction from all mothers, yet the juvenile's own mother has a shorter latency in looking in the direction of the scream, as well as an increased duration in her look. Further, mothers have been observed to help their offspring in conflict, yet rarely aid other juveniles. Other mothers evidently can determine to which mother the offspring belongs. Individuals have been observed to look towards the mother whose offspring is creating the scream.<ref name="vocalrecog">{{cite journal| last = Cheney| first = D. L.|author2=Seyfarth, R. M. | title =Vocal recognition in free-ranging vervet monkeys|journal = [[Animal Behaviour (journal)|Animal Behaviour]]| volume =28| issue = 2| pages =362–367| date =1980| doi = 10.1016/S0003-3472(80)80044-3| s2cid = 53258798}}</ref>