Referential signaling

Birds and mammals have specific calls that allow companions to predict environmental events, such as the discovery of a particular type of food or the appearance of a predator. These signals are functionally referential and have properties indicating that they encode relatively specific information about eliciting events. The classification of a signal as functionally referential requires consideration of both the caller’s behavior and the receiver’s response. Thus, signal production and perception assume equal importance. Referential signals should be structurally discrete with a degree of stimulus specificity. Responses to referential signals should be specific and incompatible with responses to alternative signals. To date, factors associated with the evolution of referential signaling include sociality, habitat characteristics, and strategies for avoiding predation.