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Chaverri G, Sagot M, Stynoski JL, Araya-Salas M, Araya-Ajoy Y, Nagy M, Knörnschild M, Chaves-Ramírez S, Rose N, Sánchez-Chavarría M, Jiménez-Torres Y, Ulloa-Sanabria D, Solís-Hernández H, Carter GG. Calling to the collective: contact calling rates within groups of disc-winged bats do not vary by kinship or association. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230195. [PMID: 38768198 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Many group-living animals coordinate social behaviours using contact calls, which can be produced for all group members or targeted at specific individuals. In the disc-winged bat, Thyroptera tricolor, group members use 'inquiry' and 'response' calls to coordinate daily movements into new roosts (furled leaves). Rates of both calls show consistent among-individual variation, but causes of within-individual variation remain unknown. Here, we tested whether disc-winged bats produce more contact calls towards group members with higher kinship or association. In 446 experimental trials, we recorded 139 random within-group pairs of one flying bat (producing inquiry calls for roost searching) and one roosting bat (producing response calls for roost advertising). Using generalized linear mixed-effect models (GLMM), we assessed how response and inquiry calling rates varied by sender, receiver, genetic kinship and co-roosting association rate. Calling rates varied consistently across senders but not by receiver. Response calling was influenced by inquiry calling rates, but neither calling rate was higher when the interacting pair had higher kinship or association. Rather than dyadic calling rates indicating within-group relationships, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that bats produce contact calls to maintain contact with any or all individuals within a group while collectively searching for a new roost site. This article is part of the theme issue 'The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamics'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gloriana Chaverri
- Sede del Sur, Universidad de Costa Rica , 60701, Costa Rica
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute , 0843-03092, Panama
| | - Maria Sagot
- Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Oswego , Oswego, NY 13126, USA
| | - Jennifer L Stynoski
- Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Universidad de Costa Rica , Coronado, San José 11103, Costa Rica
| | - Marcelo Araya-Salas
- Centro de Investigación en Neurociencias, Universidad de Costa Rica , San Pedro, San José 11501-2060, Costa Rica
- Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica , , San José 11501-2060, Costa Rica
| | - Yimen Araya-Ajoy
- Department of Biology, Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) , , N-7491, Norway
| | - Martina Nagy
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science , Berlin 10115, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science , Berlin 10115, Germany
| | - Silvia Chaves-Ramírez
- Programa de Posgrado en Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica , , San José 11501-2060, Costa Rica
| | - Nicole Rose
- Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Oswego , Oswego, NY 13126, USA
| | - Mariela Sánchez-Chavarría
- Programa de Posgrado en Gestión Integrada de Áreas Costeras Tropicales, Universidad de Costa Rica , , San José 11501-2060, Costa Rica
| | | | | | | | - Gerald G Carter
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute , 0843-03092, Panama
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University , Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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Smeele SQ, Tyndel SA, Klump BC, Alarcón‐Nieto G, Aplin LM. callsync: An R package for alignment and analysis of multi-microphone animal recordings. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11384. [PMID: 38799392 PMCID: PMC11116754 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
To better understand how vocalisations are used during interactions of multiple individuals, studies are increasingly deploying on-board devices with a microphone on each animal. The resulting recordings are extremely challenging to analyse, since microphone clocks drift non-linearly and record the vocalisations of non-focal individuals as well as noise. Here we address this issue with callsync, an R package designed to align recordings, detect and assign vocalisations to the caller, trace the fundamental frequency, filter out noise and perform basic analysis on the resulting clips. We present a case study where the pipeline is used on a dataset of six captive cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) wearing backpack microphones. Recordings initially had a drift of ~2 min, but were aligned to within ~2 s with our package. Using callsync, we detected and assigned 2101 calls across three multi-hour recording sessions. Two had loud beep markers in the background designed to help the manual alignment process. One contained no obvious markers, in order to demonstrate that markers were not necessary to obtain optimal alignment. We then used a function that traces the fundamental frequency and applied spectrographic cross correlation to show a possible analytical pipeline where vocal similarity is visually assessed. The callsync package can be used to go from raw recordings to a clean dataset of features. The package is designed to be modular and allows users to replace functions as they wish. We also discuss the challenges that might be faced in each step and how the available literature can provide alternatives for each step.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simeon Q. Smeele
- Cognitive & Cultural Ecology Research GroupMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorRadolfzellGermany
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and CultureMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
- Department of BiologyUniversity of KonstanzConstanceGermany
- Department of EcoscienceAarhus UniversityAarhusDenmark
| | - Stephen A. Tyndel
- Cognitive & Cultural Ecology Research GroupMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorRadolfzellGermany
- Department of BiologyUniversity of KonstanzConstanceGermany
| | - Barbara C. Klump
- Cognitive & Cultural Ecology Research GroupMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorRadolfzellGermany
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive BiologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Gustavo Alarcón‐Nieto
- Cognitive & Cultural Ecology Research GroupMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorRadolfzellGermany
- Department of BiologyUniversity of KonstanzConstanceGermany
- Department of MigrationMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorRadolfzellGermany
| | - Lucy M. Aplin
- Cognitive & Cultural Ecology Research GroupMax Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorRadolfzellGermany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental StudiesUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of BiologyThe Australian National UniversityCanberraAustralian Capital TerritoryAustralia
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3
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Abreu F, Pika S. Turn-taking skills in mammals: A systematic review into development and acquisition. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.987253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
How human language evolved remains one of the most intriguing questions in science, and different approaches have been used to tackle this question. A recent hypothesis, the Interaction Engine Hypothesis, postulates that language was made possible through the special capacity for social interaction involving different social cognitive skills (e.g., joint attention, common ground) and specific characteristics such as face-to-face interaction, mutual gaze and turn-taking, the exchange of rapid communicative turns. Recently, it has been argued that this turn-taking infrastructure may be a foundational and ancient mechanism of the layered system of language because communicative turn-taking has been found in human infants and across several non-human primate species. Moreover, there is some evidence for turn-taking in different mammalian taxa, especially those capable of vocal learning. Surprisingly, however, the existing studies have mainly focused on turn-taking production of adult individuals, while little is known about its emergence and development in young individuals. Hence, the aim of the current paper was 2-fold: First, we carried out a systematic review of turn-taking development and acquisition in mammals to evaluate possible research bias and existing gaps. Second, we highlight research avenues to spur more research into this domain and investigate if distinct turn-taking elements can be found in other non-human animal species. Since mammals exhibit an extended development period, including learning and strong parental care, they represent an excellent model group in which to investigate the acquisition and development of turn-taking abilities. We performed a systematic review including a wide range of terms and found 21 studies presenting findings on turn-taking abilities in infants and juveniles. Most of these studies were from the last decade, showing an increased interest in this field over the years. Overall, we found a considerable variation in the terminologies and methodological approaches used. In addition, studies investigating turn-taking abilities across different development periods and in relation to different social partners were very rare, thereby hampering direct, systematic comparisons within and across species. Nonetheless, the results of some studies suggested that specific turn-taking elements are innate, while others are acquired during development (e.g., flexibility). Finally, we pinpoint fruitful research avenues and hypotheses to move the field of turn-taking development forward and improve our understanding of the impact of turn-taking on language evolution.
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Bergmann A, Burchardt LS, Wimmer B, Kugelschafter K, Gloza‐Rausch F, Knörnschild M. The soundscape of swarming: Proof of concept for a noninvasive acoustic species identification of swarming
Myotis
bats. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9439. [DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Anja Bergmann
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Lara S. Burchardt
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
| | - Bernadette Wimmer
- Naturschutz, Landwirtschaft, Gartenbau, Schifffahrt und Wasserwirtschaft Landratsamt Garmisch‐Patenkirchen Garmisch‐Patenkirchen Germany
| | | | - Florian Gloza‐Rausch
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Noctalis Fledermaus‐Zentrum GmbH Bad Segeberg Germany
- Deutsche Fledermauswarte e.V Berlin Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany
- Animal Behavior Lab, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
- Deutsche Fledermauswarte e.V Berlin Germany
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Lattenkamp EZ, Hörpel SG, Mengede J, Firzlaff U. A researcher's guide to the comparative assessment of vocal production learning. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200237. [PMID: 34482725 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Vocal production learning (VPL) is the capacity to learn to produce new vocalizations, which is a rare ability in the animal kingdom and thus far has only been identified in a handful of mammalian taxa and three groups of birds. Over the last few decades, approaches to the demonstration of VPL have varied among taxa, sound production systems and functions. These discrepancies strongly impede direct comparisons between studies. In the light of the growing number of experimental studies reporting VPL, the need for comparability is becoming more and more pressing. The comparative evaluation of VPL across studies would be facilitated by unified and generalized reporting standards, which would allow a better positioning of species on any proposed VPL continuum. In this paper, we specifically highlight five factors influencing the comparability of VPL assessments: (i) comparison to an acoustic baseline, (ii) comprehensive reporting of acoustic parameters, (iii) extended reporting of training conditions and durations, (iv) investigating VPL function via behavioural, perception-based experiments and (v) validation of findings on a neuronal level. These guidelines emphasize the importance of comparability between studies in order to unify the field of vocal learning. This article is part of the theme issue 'Vocal learning in animals and humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ella Z Lattenkamp
- Division of Neurobiology, Department of Biology II, LMU Munich, Germany.,Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Stephen G Hörpel
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Department of Animal Sciences, Chair of Zoology, TU Munich, Germany
| | - Janine Mengede
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Uwe Firzlaff
- Department of Animal Sciences, Chair of Zoology, TU Munich, Germany
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