Skip navigation
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01fx719q86w
Title: On the multimodal communication and social cognition of the plains zebra (Equus quagga)
Authors: Hex, Severine Brita Siri Walther
Advisors: Rubenstein, Daniel I
Contributors: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department
Keywords: cooperation
harem
intentional communication
language evolution
ontogeny
social behavior
Subjects: Zoology
Behavioral sciences
Developmental psychology
Issue Date: 2025
Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University
Abstract: Multimodality is a virtually ubiquitous feature of communication. To understand the full subtlety and complexity with which animals use communication to solve the challenges of their social environment, it must be studied as the interconnected, multimodal system that it is. Using the plains zebra, which possesses a rich, multimodal communication system and the greatest social complexity among the equids, this dissertation seeks to understand how animals living in complex societies use their multimodal communication to navigate their social and physical environments in accordance with their social niche. I investigated a previously undescribed visual signal in the plains zebra, the “headbob,” and found the first evidence that it may demonstrate the three key criteria used to infer joint attention in nonhuman animals: first-order intentional communication, sensitivity to receiver attentional state, and common ground. Additionally, I developed a novel framework for using network analysis techniques as a tool to describe and visualize the relationships between simultaneously produced signals within and between modalities, as well as to infer signal meaning and function. Leveraging this technique, I examined the ontogeny of multimodal communication in plains zebras and the social forces that act to shape its development, demonstrating that juvenile individuals use simpler and less combinatorically complex communication to potentially mitigate social risk during the relatively vulnerable period of immaturity. I also used this technique to investigate how individuals balance self-maintenance with social maintenance behaviors during a period of acute environmental stress, revealing how individuals modulate the ways in which they communicate to minimize ambiguity and risk when interactions are costly but bonds cannot be sacrificed. Finally, I expanded beyond plains zebras to examine the study of multimodality in animal communication and human language with an emphasis on identifying parallel threads of inquiry, as well as areas that would benefit from increased interdisciplinary collaboration. Overall, my dissertation contributes to our understanding of how animals can use multimodal communication to flexibly solve the challenges in their social and physical environment in accordance with their social niche.
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01fx719q86w
Type of Material: Academic dissertations (Ph.D.)
Language: en
Appears in Collections:Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Hex_princeton_0181D_15189.pdf5.46 MBAdobe PDFView/Download


Items in Dataspace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.