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De Gregorio C, Maiolini M, Raimondi T, Carugati F, Miaretsoa L, Valente D, Torti V, Giacoma C, Ravignani A, Gamba M. Isochrony as ancestral condition to call and song in a primate. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024. [PMID: 38925552 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Animal songs differ from calls in function and structure, and have comparative and translational value, showing similarities to human music. Rhythm in music is often distributed in quantized classes of intervals known as rhythmic categories. These classes have been found in the songs of a few nonhuman species but never in their calls. Are rhythmic categories song-specific, as in human music, or can they transcend the song-call boundary? We analyze the vocal displays of one of the few mammals producing both songs and call sequences: Indri indri. We test whether rhythmic categories (a) are conserved across songs produced in different contexts, (b) exist in call sequences, and (c) differ between songs and call sequences. We show that rhythmic categories occur across vocal displays. Vocalization type and function modulate deployment of categories. We find isochrony (1:1 ratio, like the rhythm of a ticking clock) in all song types, but only advertisement songs show three rhythmic categories (1:1, 1:2, 2:1 ratios). Like songs, some call types are also isochronous. Isochrony is the backbone of most indri vocalizations, unlike human speech, where it is rare. In indri, isochrony underlies both songs and hierarchy-less call sequences and might be ancestral to both.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara De Gregorio
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Marco Maiolini
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Teresa Raimondi
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
- Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Filippo Carugati
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Longondraza Miaretsoa
- Groupe d'étude et de recherche sur les primates de Madagascar (GERP), Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Daria Valente
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
- Parco Natura Viva Garda Zoological Park (PNV), Verona, Italy
| | - Valeria Torti
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Cristina Giacoma
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Andrea Ravignani
- Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus, Aalborg, Denmark
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
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De Gregorio C, Valente D, Ferrario V, Carugati F, Cristiano W, Raimondi T, Torti V, Giacoma C, Gamba M. Who you live with and what you duet for: a review of the function of primate duets in relation to their social organization. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2024; 210:281-294. [PMID: 38285176 PMCID: PMC10995044 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-023-01689-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Duets are one of the most fascinating displays in animal vocal communication, where two animals fine-tune the timing of their emissions to create a coordinated signal. Duetting behavior is widespread in the animal kingdom and is present in insects, birds, and mammals. Duets are essential to regulate activities within and between social units. Few studies assessed the functions of these vocal emissions experimentally, and for many species, there is still no consensus on what duets are used for. Here, we reviewed the literature on the function of duets in non-human primates, investigating a possible link between the social organization of the species and the function of its duetting behavior. In primates and birds, social conditions characterized by higher promiscuity might relate to the emergence of duetting behavior. We considered both quantitative and qualitative studies, which led us to hypothesize that the shift in the social organization from pair living to a mixed social organization might have led to the emergence of mate defense and mate guarding as critical functions of duetting behavior. Territory/resource ownership and defense functions are more critical in obligate pair-living species. Finally, we encourage future experimental research on this topic to allow the formulation of empirically testable predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara De Gregorio
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy.
| | - Daria Valente
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Valeria Ferrario
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Filippo Carugati
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Walter Cristiano
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
- Environment and Health Department, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
| | - Teresa Raimondi
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Valeria Torti
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Cristina Giacoma
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
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