The variety of information transfer in animal sonic communication: Review from a physics perspective

Abstract

For many anatomical and physical reasons animals of different genera use widely different communication strategies. While some are chemical or visual, the most common involve sound or vibration and these signals can carry a large amount of information over long distances. The acoustic signal varies greatly from one genus to another depending upon animal size, anatomy, physiology, and habitat, as also does the way in which information is encoded in the signal, but some general principles can be elucidated showing the possibilities and limitations for information transfer. Cases discussed range from insects through song birds to humans. © 2009 by the author; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland.