Communication

Animals use communication as a way to keep in contact with one another, raise alarm in the presence of danger, and attract a mate.

Types of Communication

Visual

• Gestures or postures, such as the submissive posture of a dog with its tail between its

legs, may help to identify an animal’s status in the group.

Sound

• Animals often use calls to identify offspring, such as the specific call shared between a

young penguin and its parents. Alarm calls and distress calls alert others to the presence

of a threat.

Touch

• Bees use their antennae, for example, to interpret the waggle dance performed by a

scout bee in order to locate a food source outside the hive.

Chemical

• Some animals communicate by using pheromones. Pheromones are chemicals released

by an animal that affect the behavior of other individuals of the same species.