PREVIEW

BY MARK WORGAN

Timon the meerkat and Pumba the warthog’s friendship from the film The Lion King may have been closer to reality than thought - according to a new scientific study of cross-species co-operation.

The major scientific review has highlighted how warthogs collaborate with mongooses, close relatives of Timon’s species, use a mix of signals, postures and calls to coordinate behaviour with other species - allowing them to cooperate, trade benefits and avoid being exploited.

Published in Animal Behaviour, the study draws together evidence from mammals, birds, fish and insects to show that communication across species boundaries is far more common and more sophisticated than previously thought.

Among the clearest mammal examples are interactions involving the warthog, where individuals signal their willingness to be cleaned of parasites through distinctive body postures, effectively advertising themselves to birds and other cleaner species. These encounters are not random; they rely on recognisable cues that help both parties time their behaviour and maximise benefit.

Researchers say similar principles can be seen in mongooses, including banded mongoose groups, which use coordinated movements and vocalisations not only within their own social units but also in interactions with other animals in their environment. In some settings, their alert calls and mobbing behaviour can inadvertently signal opportunities or risks to other species nearby, shaping how those species respond in turn.

The review argues that such exchanges depend on what it calls “active coordination between sensory worlds”—where one species must interpret another’s signals despite very different ways of perceiving the environment.

“From the examples we know, individuals coordinate their actions to access shared resources, like food, or to exchange resources for services, such as protection from predators,” said Dr Katie Dunkley of the University of Oxford, lead author of the review.

The paper brings together cases from across the animal kingdom, including cleaner fish servicing reef species in exchange for food, and insects that use chemical signals to manipulate ants into offering protection.

But the authors stress that communication is not always straightforward. Because interspecies encounters can carry risks, animals must also judge when signals are honest and when they might be exploited.

For example, some cleaning species use conspicuous movements or colour patterns to reassure larger predators that interactions will be safe. Others rely on more subtle cues, including vibration or scent.

Senior author Dr van der Wal, of the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, said the flexibility of these systems is key.

“In some forms of interspecies cooperation, cues and signals vary depending on the ecological context, the species involved, and whether the signal is inherited or learned,” she said.

The researchers also argue that many of these communication systems may have evolved gradually—from simple behavioural cues that were initially incidental, into more refined signals that actively facilitate cooperation.

The review, produced by 58 researchers following a workshop in Cambridge, suggests that understanding how species such as warthogs and mongooses interpret one another could help scientists better understand how communication itself evolves.

It concludes that much remains unknown about how widespread these interactions are, and how many more examples of interspecies cooperation are yet to be discovered in the wild.