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Ravignani A, Kello CT, de Reus K, Kotz SA, Dalla Bella S, Méndez-Aróstegui M, Rapado-Tamarit B, Rubio-Garcia A, de Boer B. Ontogeny of vocal rhythms in harbor seal pups: an exploratory study. Curr Zool 2018; 65:107-120. [PMID: 30697246 PMCID: PMC6347067 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Puppyhood is a very active social and vocal period in a harbor seal’s life Phoca vitulina. An important feature of vocalizations is their temporal and rhythmic structure, and understanding vocal timing and rhythms in harbor seals is critical to a cross-species hypothesis in evolutionary neuroscience that links vocal learning, rhythm perception, and synchronization. This study utilized analytical techniques that may best capture rhythmic structure in pup vocalizations with the goal of examining whether (1) harbor seal pups show rhythmic structure in their calls and (2) rhythms evolve over time. Calls of 3 wild-born seal pups were recorded daily over the course of 1–3 weeks; 3 temporal features were analyzed using 3 complementary techniques. We identified temporal and rhythmic structure in pup calls across different time windows. The calls of harbor seal pups exhibit some degree of temporal and rhythmic organization, which evolves over puppyhood and resembles that of other species’ interactive communication. We suggest next steps for investigating call structure in harbor seal pups and propose comparative hypotheses to test in other pinniped species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Ravignani
- Research Department, Sealcentre Pieterburen, Pieterburen, The Netherlands.,Artificial Intelligence Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Christopher T Kello
- Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Koen de Reus
- Research Department, Sealcentre Pieterburen, Pieterburen, The Netherlands
| | - Sonja A Kotz
- Basic and Applied NeuroDynamics Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Neuropsychology & Psychopharmacology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.,Department of Neuropsychology, Max-Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Simone Dalla Bella
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Department of Cognitive Psychology, WSFiZ in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | | | - Ana Rubio-Garcia
- Research Department, Sealcentre Pieterburen, Pieterburen, The Netherlands
| | - Bart de Boer
- Artificial Intelligence Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
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Gerhardt P, Henning Y, Begall S, Malkemper EP. Audiograms of three subterranean rodent species (genus Fukomys) determined by auditory brainstem responses reveal extremely poor high-frequency hearing. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 220:4377-4382. [PMID: 29025871 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.164426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Life underground has shaped the auditory sense of subterranean mammals, shifting their hearing range to low frequencies. Mole-rats of the genus Fukomys have, however, been suggested to hear at frequencies up to 18.5 kHz, unusually high for a subterranean rodent. We present audiograms of three mole-rat species, Fukomys anselli, Fukomys micklemi and the giant mole-rat Fukomys mechowii, based on evoked auditory brainstem potentials. All species showed low sensitivity and restricted hearing ranges at 60 dB SPL extending from 125 Hz to 4 kHz (5 octaves) with most-sensitive hearing between 0.8 kHz and 1.4 kHz. The high-frequency cut-offs are the lowest found in mammals to date. In contrast to predictions from middle ear morphology, F. mechowii did not show higher sensitivity than F. anselli in the low-frequency range. These data suggest that the hearing range of Fukomys mole-rats is highly restricted to low frequencies and similar to that of other subterranean mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia Gerhardt
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Yoshiyuki Henning
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Sabine Begall
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - E Pascal Malkemper
- Department of General Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany .,Department of Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16521 Praha 6, Czech Republic
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