Linking Features of Genomic Function to Fundamental Features of Learned Vocal Communication

2020 ◽  
pp. 211-244
Author(s):  
Sarah E. London
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Genomic Function

Vocal Communication in Primates

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wdliam A. Mason ◽  
John Lotz
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication

Pinniped vocal communication: an introduction

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Schusterman ◽  
Sofie M. Van Parijs
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication

Primate Vocal Communication and the Evolution of Speech

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-60
Author(s):  
Julia Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Nonhuman Primate ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Internal State ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Primate Communication ◽  
Evolution Of Speech ◽  
Primate Vocal Communication ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Shed Light

Studies of nonhuman primate communication are often motivated by the desire to shed light on the evolution of speech. In contrast to human speech, the vocal repertoires of nonhuman primates are evolutionarily highly conserved. Within species-specific constraints, calls may vary in relation to the internal state of the caller or social experience. Receivers can use signalers’ calls to predict upcoming events or behavioral dispositions. Yet nonhuman primates do not appear to express or comprehend communicative or informative intent. Signalers are sensitive to the relation between their own actions and receivers’ responses, and thus, signaling behavior can be conceived as goal directed. Receivers’ ability to integrate information from multiple sources renders the system flexible and powerful. Researchers who take a linguistic or biological perspective on nonhuman primate communication should be aware of the strengths and limitations of their approaches. Both benefit from a focus on the mechanisms that underpin signaling and responses to signals.

scholarly journals Born to sing! Song development in a singing primate

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara De Gregorio ◽  
Filippo Carugati ◽  
Vittoria Estienne ◽  
Daria Valente ◽  
Teresa Raimondi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Call Structure ◽  
Historical View ◽  
Singing Behavior ◽  
Vocal Behaviour ◽  
Temporal Features ◽  
Vocal Activity ◽  
Song Development

Abstract In animal vocal communication, the development of adult-like vocalization is fundamental to interact appropriately with conspecifics. However, the factors that guide ontogenetic changes in the acoustic features remains poorly understood. In contrast with a historical view of nonhuman primate vocal production as substantially innate, recent research suggests that inheritance and physiological modification can only explain some of the developmental changes in call structure during growth. A particular case of acoustic communication is the indris' singing behavior, a peculiar case among Strepsirrhine primates. Thanks to a decade of intense data collection, this work provides the first long-term quantitative analysis on song development in a singing primate. To understand the ontogeny of such a complex vocal output, we investigated juvenile and sub-adult indris' vocal behaviour, and we found that young individuals started participating in the chorus years earlier than previously reported. Our results indicated that spectro-temporal song parameters underwent essential changes during growth. In particular, the age and sex of the emitter influenced the indris' vocal activity. We found that frequency parameters showed consistent changes across the sexes, but the temporal features showed different developmental trajectories for males and females. Given the low level of morphological sexual dimorphism and the marked differences in vocal behavior, we hypothesize that factors like social influences and auditory feedback may affect songs' features, resulting in high vocal flexibility in juvenile indris. This trait may be pivotal in a species that engages in choruses with rapid vocal turn-taking.

scholarly journals Previously unknown behavior in parasitic cuckoo females: male-like vocalization during migratory activity

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Swetlana G. Meshcheryagina ◽  
Alexey Opaev
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Harmonic Spectrum ◽  
Common Cuckoo ◽  
Neck Extension ◽  
Migratory Activity ◽  
Call Production ◽  
In Captivity ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Combined Features ◽  
Female Call

Abstract Background In the last decade, enigmatic male-like cuckoo calls have been reported several times in East Asia. These calls exhibited a combination of vocal traits of both Oriental Cuckoo (Cuculus optatus) and Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) advertising calls, and some authors therefore suggested that the enigmatic calls were produced by either Common × Oriental Cuckoo male hybrids or Common Cuckoo males having a gene mutation. However, the exact identity of calling birds are still unknown. Methods We recorded previously unknown male-like calls from three captive Oriental Cuckoo females, and compared these calls with enigmatic vocalizations recorded in the wild as well as with advertising vocalizations of Common and Oriental Cuckoo males. To achieve this, we measured calls automatically. Besides, we video-recorded captive female emitting male-like calls, and compared these recordings with the YouTube recordings of calling males of both Common and Oriental Cuckoos to get insight into the mechanism of call production. Results The analysis showed that female male-like calls recorded in captivity were similar to enigmatic calls recorded in the wild. Therefore, Oriental Cuckoo females might produce the latter calls. Two features of these female calls appeared to be unusual among birds. First, females produced male-like calls at the time of spring and autumn migratory activity and on migration in the wild. Because of this, functional significance of this call remained puzzling. Secondly, the male-like female call unexpectedly combined features of both closed-mouth (closed beak and simultaneous inflation of the ‘throat sac’) and open-mouth (prominent harmonic spectrum and the maximum neck extension observed at the beginning of a sound) vocal behaviors. Conclusions The Cuculus vocalizations outside the reproductive season remain poorly understood. Here, we found for the first time that Oriental Cuckoo females can produce male-like calls in that time. Because of its rarity, this call might be an atavism. Indeed, female male-like vocalizations are still known in non-parasitic tropical and apparently more basal cuckoos only. Therefore, our findings may shed light on the evolution of vocal communication in avian brood parasites.

scholarly journals Individual Differences in the Vocal Communication of Malayan Tapirs (Tapirus indicus) Considering Familiarity and Relatedness

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1026
Author(s):  
Robin Walb ◽  
Lorenzo von Fersen ◽  
Theo Meijer ◽  
Kurt Hammerschmidt
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Solitary Living ◽  
Low Visibility ◽  
Living Species ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Tapirus Indicus

Studies in animal communication have shown that many species have individual distinct calls. These individual distinct vocalizations can play an important role in animal communication because they can carry important information about the age, sex, personality, or social role of the signaler. Although we have good knowledge regarding the importance of individual vocalization in social living mammals, it is less clear to what extent solitary living mammals possess individual distinct vocalizations. We recorded and analyzed the vocalizations of 14 captive adult Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) (six females and eight males) to answer this question. We investigated whether familiarity or relatedness had an influence on call similarity. In addition to sex-related differences, we found significant differences between all subjects, comparable to the individual differences found in highly social living species. Surprisingly, kinship appeared to have no influence on call similarity, whereas familiar subjects exhibited significantly higher similarity in their harmonic calls compared to unfamiliar or related subjects. The results support the view that solitary animals could have individual distinct calls, like highly social animals. Therefore, it is likely that non-social factors, like low visibility, could have an influence on call individuality. The increasing knowledge of their behavior will help to protect this endangered species.

Flexible scaling and persistence of social vocal communication

Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Chen ◽  
Jeffrey E. Markowitz ◽  
Varoth Lilascharoen ◽  
Sandra Taylor ◽  
Pete Sheurpukdi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication

scholarly journals Vocal plasticity in a reptile

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1855) ◽  
pp. 20170451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Brumm ◽  
Sue Anne Zollinger
Keyword(s):  
Signal Detection ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Vocal Plasticity ◽  
Lombard Effect ◽  
Gekko Gecko ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Signalling Systems

Sophisticated vocal communication systems of birds and mammals, including human speech, are characterized by a high degree of plasticity in which signals are individually adjusted in response to changes in the environment. Here, we present, to our knowledge, the first evidence for vocal plasticity in a reptile. Like birds and mammals, tokay geckos ( Gekko gecko ) increased the duration of brief call notes in the presence of broadcast noise compared to quiet conditions, a behaviour that facilitates signal detection by receivers. By contrast, they did not adjust the amplitudes of their call syllables in noise (the Lombard effect), which is in line with the hypothesis that the Lombard effect has evolved independently in birds and mammals. However, the geckos used a different strategy to increase signal-to-noise ratios: instead of increasing the amplitude of a given call type when exposed to noise, the subjects produced more high-amplitude syllable types from their repertoire. Our findings demonstrate that reptile vocalizations are much more flexible than previously thought, including elaborate vocal plasticity that is also important for the complex signalling systems of birds and mammals. We suggest that signal detection constraints are one of the major forces driving the evolution of animal communication systems across different taxa.

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