Year-long stability and individual differences of male long calls in Japanese pikas Ochotona hyperborea yesoensis (Lagomorpha) / Stabilité annuelle et differences individuelles des cris d'appels longs des mâles de pikas du Japon Ochotona hyperborea yesoensis (Lagomorpha)

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AbstractLong calls of three adult male Japanese pikas were tape-recorded in the Taisetsuzan National Park, Hokkaido, Japan, from July 1996 to July 1998. A long call consisted of 3–13 elements, each with a characteristic W-shaped wave. There was apparent individual variation in sonographic patterns and the fundamental frequencies. Such individual variation did not differ with animal age, or through the reproductive and non-reproductive seasons. The complicated structure of W-shaped waves may involve much information concerning individual difference, and the repetition of elements in the long call may advertise sexual activity, location, and territorial ownership to opponents and mates, based on individual identification only by hearing calls.