Why does a vervet monkey's alarm call repertoire elicit distinct escape behaviors specific to different predators learned during development, rather than only instinctual responses?

💡 Explanation

Referential signaling enables the monkeys to associate specific calls with specific predators and appropriate escape strategies. Therefore, learning modifies innate predispositions, rather than innate template matching dictating rigid responses. Context-dependent learning leads to flexible behavioral adaptation because fixed signal matching could be ineffective.

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