 To unpack the second claim, let us return to the beaver splash example. According to Millikan, a particular splash, produced by a beaver in location l at time t, is really a complex signal, consisting of the splash, the time and the location. Looking at the splash signal in this way, we can see that it belongs to a large set of interrelated signals consisting of the (same type of) splash in combination with many different times and locations. Moreover, since the consumers in this case are beavers that (typically) react to the signals by diving for cover, it is clear that there is indeed a systematic correspondence relation that must obtain between the splash signals and certain states in the world in order for the consumers’ behavior to fulfill a biological function. To put it briefly, signals of the form splash at location l and time t must correspond to states of the form danger at location l and time t: if this correspondence relation obtains, the consumer beavers (often) escape from danger by diving for cover; if it is does not obtain, they merely waste valuable energy. (This systematic correspondence relationship is described as a ‘mapping rule’, a ‘mapping function’, or a ‘semantic mapping’ by Millikan.)