1
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Rutovskaya MV, Volodin IA, Naidenko SV, Erofeeva MN, Alekseeva GS, Zhuravleva PS, Volobueva KA, Kim MD, Volodina EV. Relationship between acoustic traits of protesting cries of domestic kittens (Felis catus) and their individual chances for survival. Behav Processes 2024; 216:105009. [PMID: 38395238 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2024.105009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 02/17/2024] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Domestic cat (Felis catus) mothers may rely on offspring cries to allocate resources in use of individuals with greater chances for survival and sacrifice the weak ones in case of impossibility to raise the entire large litter. Potential victims of this maternal strategy can enhance their chances of survival, by producing vocalizations with traits mimicking those of higher-quality offspring. We compared acoustic traits of 4990 cries produced during blood sampling by 57 two-week-old captive feral kittens (28 males, 29 females); 47 of them survived to 90 days of age and 10 died by reasons not related to traumas or aggression. No relationship was found between acoustic parameters and kitten survival, however, positive relationship was found between survival and body weight. The cries had moderate cues to individuality and lacked cues to sex. Body weight correlated positively with fundamental frequency and negatively with call rate, duration, peak frequency and power quartiles. We discuss that dishonesty of acoustic traits of kitten quality could develop as adaptation for misleading a mother from allocation resources between the weaker and stronger individuals, thus enhancing individual chances for survival for the weaker littermates. Physical constraint, as body weight, may prevent extensive developing the deceptive vocal traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina V Rutovskaya
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Ilya A Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 1/12, Moscow 119234, Russia.
| | - Sergey V Naidenko
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Mariya N Erofeeva
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Galina S Alekseeva
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Polina S Zhuravleva
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Kseniya A Volobueva
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Mariya D Kim
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
| | - Elena V Volodina
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia
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2
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Kreiman J. Information conveyed by voice qualitya). THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2024; 155:1264-1271. [PMID: 38345424 DOI: 10.1121/10.0024609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
The problem of characterizing voice quality has long caused debate and frustration. The richness of the available descriptive vocabulary is overwhelming, but the density and complexity of the information voices convey lead some to conclude that language can never adequately specify what we hear. Others argue that terminology lacks an empirical basis, so that language-based scales are inadequate a priori. Efforts to provide meaningful instrumental characterizations have also had limited success. Such measures may capture sound patterns but cannot at present explain what characteristics, intentions, or identity listeners attribute to the speaker based on those patterns. However, some terms continually reappear across studies. These terms align with acoustic dimensions accounting for variance across speakers and languages and correlate with size and arousal across species. This suggests that labels for quality rest on a bedrock of biology: We have evolved to perceive voices in terms of size/arousal, and these factors structure both voice acoustics and descriptive language. Such linkages could help integrate studies of signals and their meaning, producing a truly interdisciplinary approach to the study of voice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jody Kreiman
- Departments of Head and Neck Surgery and Linguistics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1794, USA
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3
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Thévenet J, Papet L, Coureaud G, Boyer N, Levréro F, Grimault N, Mathevon N. Crocodile perception of distress in hominid baby cries. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230201. [PMID: 37554035 PMCID: PMC10410202 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0201] [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: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023] Open
Abstract
It is generally argued that distress vocalizations, a common modality for alerting conspecifics across a wide range of terrestrial vertebrates, share acoustic features that allow heterospecific communication. Yet studies suggest that the acoustic traits used to decode distress may vary between species, leading to decoding errors. Here we found through playback experiments that Nile crocodiles are attracted to infant hominid cries (bonobo, chimpanzee and human), and that the intensity of crocodile response depends critically on a set of specific acoustic features (mainly deterministic chaos, harmonicity and spectral prominences). Our results suggest that crocodiles are sensitive to the degree of distress encoded in the vocalizations of phylogenetically very distant vertebrates. A comparison of these results with those obtained with human subjects confronted with the same stimuli further indicates that crocodiles and humans use different acoustic criteria to assess the distress encoded in infant cries. Interestingly, the acoustic features driving crocodile reaction are likely to be more reliable markers of distress than those used by humans. These results highlight that the acoustic features encoding information in vertebrate sound signals are not necessarily identical across species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Thévenet
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, Rhône-Alpes, France
- Equipe Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University Lyon 1, Villeurbanne 69622, France
| | - Léo Papet
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, Rhône-Alpes, France
- Equipe Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University Lyon 1, Villeurbanne 69622, France
| | - Gérard Coureaud
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, Rhône-Alpes, France
| | - Nicolas Boyer
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, Rhône-Alpes, France
| | - Florence Levréro
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, Rhône-Alpes, France
| | - Nicolas Grimault
- Equipe Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University Lyon 1, Villeurbanne 69622, France
| | - Nicolas Mathevon
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, Rhône-Alpes, France
- Institut universitaire de France, Paris, Île-de-France, France
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4
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Frey R, Wyman MT, Johnston M, Schofield M, Locatelli Y, Reby D. Roars, groans and moans: Anatomical correlates of vocal diversity in polygynous deer. J Anat 2021; 239:1336-1369. [PMID: 34342877 PMCID: PMC8602020 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Eurasian deer are characterized by the extraordinary diversity of their vocal repertoires. Male sexual calls range from roars with relatively low fundamental frequency (hereafter fo ) in red deer Cervus elaphus, to moans with extremely high fo in sika deer Cervus nippon, and almost infrasonic groans with exceptionally low fo in fallow deer Dama dama. Moreover, while both red and fallow males are capable of lowering their formant frequencies during their calls, sika males appear to lack this ability. Female contact calls are also characterized by relatively less pronounced, yet strong interspecific differences. The aim of this study is to examine the anatomical bases of these inter-specific and inter-sexual differences by identifying if the acoustic variation is reflected in corresponding anatomical variation. To do this, we investigated the vocal anatomy of male and female specimens of each of these three species. Across species and sexes, we find that the observed acoustic variability is indeed related to expected corresponding anatomical differences, based on the source-filter theory of vocal production. At the source level, low fo is associated with larger vocal folds, whereas high fo is associated with smaller vocal folds: sika deer have the smallest vocal folds and male fallow deer the largest. Red and sika deer vocal folds do not appear to be sexually dimorphic, while fallow deer exhibit strong sexual dimorphism (after correcting for body size differences). At the filter level, the variability in formants is related to the configuration of the vocal tract: in fallow and red deer, both sexes have evolved a permanently descended larynx (with a resting position of the larynx much lower in males than in females). Both sexes also have the potential for momentary, call-synchronous vocal tract elongation, again more pronounced in males than in females. In contrast, the resting position of the larynx is high in both sexes of sika deer and the potential for further active vocal tract elongation is virtually absent in both sexes. Anatomical evidence suggests an evolutionary reversal in larynx position within sika deer, that is, a secondary larynx ascent. Together, our observations confirm that the observed diversity of vocal behaviour in polygynous deer is supported by strong anatomical differences, highlighting the importance of anatomical specializations in shaping mammalian vocal repertoires. Sexual selection is discussed as a potential evolutionary driver of the observed vocal diversity and sexual dimorphisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roland Frey
- Department of Reproduction ManagementLeibniz Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW)BerlinGermany
| | - Megan Tompkins Wyman
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental ScienceUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Malcolm Johnston
- Clinical Imaging Sciences CentreUniversity of SussexBrightonUK
- Department of RadiologyBrighton and Sussex University HospitalsBrightonUK
| | - Michael Schofield
- Genome Damage and Stability CentreSchool of Life SciencesUniversity of SussexBrightonUK
| | - Yann Locatelli
- Réserve de la Haute ToucheMuséum National d’Histoire NaturelleObterreFrance
| | - David Reby
- Equipe de Neuro‐Ethologie Sensorielle (ENES)/Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL)University of Saint‐Étienne, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM UMR_S 1028Saint‐ÉtienneFrance
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5
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Effect of pitch range on dogs' response to conspecific vs. heterospecific distress cries. Sci Rep 2021; 11:19723. [PMID: 34611191 PMCID: PMC8492669 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-98967-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Distress cries are emitted by many mammal species to elicit caregiving attention. Across taxa, these calls tend to share similar acoustic structures, but not necessarily frequency range, raising the question of their interspecific communicative potential. As domestic dogs are highly responsive to human emotional cues and experience stress when hearing human cries, we explore whether their responses to distress cries from human infants and puppies depend upon sharing conspecific frequency range or species-specific call characteristics. We recorded adult dogs' responses to distress cries from puppies and human babies, emitted from a loudspeaker in a basket. The frequency of the cries was presented in both their natural range and also shifted to match the other species. Crucially, regardless of species origin, calls falling into the dog call-frequency range elicited more attention. Thus, domestic dogs' responses depended strongly on the frequency range. Females responded both faster and more strongly than males, potentially reflecting asymmetries in parental care investment. Our results suggest that, despite domestication leading to an increased overall responsiveness to human cues, dogs still respond considerably less to calls in the natural human infant range than puppy range. Dogs appear to use a fast but inaccurate decision-making process to determine their response to distress-like vocalisations.
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6
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Huang X, Metzner W, Zhang K, Wang Y, Luo B, Sun C, Jiang T, Feng J. Acoustic similarity elicits responses to heterospecific distress calls in bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera). Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.10.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Sibiryakova OV, Volodin IA, Volodina EV. Advertising individual identity by mother and adolescent contact calls in Siberian wapiti Cervus elaphus sibiricus. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Olga V. Sibiryakova
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology; Lomonosov Moscow State University; Moscow Russia
| | - Ilya A. Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology; Lomonosov Moscow State University; Moscow Russia
- Scientific Research Department; Moscow Zoo; Moscow Russia
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8
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Morton CL, Hinch G, Small A, McDonald PG. Flawed mothering or infant signaling? The effects of deficient acoustic cues on ovine maternal response. Dev Psychobiol 2018; 60:975-988. [PMID: 30098006 DOI: 10.1002/dev.21769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2017] [Revised: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The neonate distress cry, which displays a similar acoustic structure across a range of mammalian species, is highly effective in attracting, even compelling, parental care. However, if this cry is defective, as found in human and rodent neonates with poor neurobehavioral function, is the signal less enticing? Using playback recordings of a ewe's own co-twins as stimuli in a two choice test, we compared the preference of each sheep dam for acoustic features of lamb distress calls to assess the impact of signal quality on maternal response. The results of this study indicate that lamb vocalizations with acoustic parameters reflecting poor vocal fold engagement and arousal were less likely to be preferred by their dam. Additionally, these calls were associated with delayed vocal initiation and poor infant survival behavior suggestive of subtle cognitive deficit; and support the possibility that, as in deer and rodents, ovine vocalizations within a specific fundamental frequency range may well be a trigger for optimal maternal behavior. This research has important implications for understanding failed maternal-young interactions in ungulate and other species, and for verifying standardization of infant stimuli used in maternal behavior studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine L Morton
- Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
| | - Geoff Hinch
- Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
| | - Alison Small
- CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Armidale, NSW, Australia
| | - Paul G McDonald
- Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
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9
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Filippi P, Gogoleva SS, Volodina EV, Volodin IA, de Boer B. Humans identify negative (but not positive) arousal in silver fox vocalizations: implications for the adaptive value of interspecific eavesdropping. Curr Zool 2017; 63:445-456. [PMID: 29492004 PMCID: PMC5804197 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to identify emotional arousal in heterospecific vocalizations may facilitate behaviors that increase survival opportunities. Crucially, this ability may orient inter-species interactions, particularly between humans and other species. Research shows that humans identify emotional arousal in vocalizations across multiple species, such as cats, dogs, and piglets. However, no previous study has addressed humans’ ability to identify emotional arousal in silver foxes. Here, we adopted low- and high-arousal calls emitted by three strains of silver fox—Tame, Aggressive, and Unselected—in response to human approach. Tame and Aggressive foxes are genetically selected for friendly and attacking behaviors toward humans, respectively. Unselected foxes show aggressive and fearful behaviors toward humans. These three strains show similar levels of emotional arousal, but different levels of emotional valence in relation to humans. This emotional information is reflected in the acoustic features of the calls. Our data suggest that humans can identify high-arousal calls of Aggressive and Unselected foxes, but not of Tame foxes. Further analyses revealed that, although within each strain different acoustic parameters affect human accuracy in identifying high-arousal calls, spectral center of gravity, harmonic-to-noise ratio, and F0 best predict humans’ ability to discriminate high-arousal calls across all strains. Furthermore, we identified in spectral center of gravity and F0 the best predictors for humans’ absolute ratings of arousal in each call. Implications for research on the adaptive value of inter-specific eavesdropping are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piera Filippi
- Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.,Brain and Language Research Institute, Aix-Marseille University, Avenue Pasteur 5, 13604 Aix-en-Provence, France.,Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Department of Language and Cognition, Wundtlaan 1, 6525 XD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Svetlana S Gogoleva
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory 1/12, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena V Volodina
- Scientific Research Department, Moscow Zoo, B. Gruzinskaya 1, 123242 Moscow, Russia
| | - Ilya A Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory 1/12, 119991 Moscow, Russia.,Scientific Research Department, Moscow Zoo, B. Gruzinskaya 1, 123242 Moscow, Russia
| | - Bart de Boer
- Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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10
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Unusually high-pitched neonate distress calls of the open-habitat Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa) and their anatomical and hormonal predictors. Naturwissenschaften 2017; 104:50. [PMID: 28578533 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-017-1471-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2017] [Revised: 05/16/2017] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
In neonate ruminants, the acoustic structure of vocalizations may depend on sex, vocal anatomy, hormonal profiles and body mass and on environmental factors. In neonate wild-living Mongolian gazelles Procapra gutturosa, hand-captured during biomedical monitoring in the Daurian steppes at the Russian-Mongolian border, we spectrographically analysed distress calls and measured body mass of 22 individuals (6 males, 16 females). For 20 (5 male, 15 female) of these individuals, serum testosterone levels were also analysed. In addition, we measured relevant dimensions of the vocal apparatus (larynx, vocal folds, vocal tract) in one stillborn male Mongolian gazelle specimen. Neonate distress calls of either sex were high in maximum fundamental frequency (800-900 Hz), but the beginning and minimum fundamental frequencies were significantly lower in males than in females. Body mass was larger in males than in females. The levels of serum testosterone were marginally higher in males. No correlations were found between either body mass or serum testosterone values and any acoustic variable for males and females analysed together or separately. We discuss that the high-frequency calls of neonate Mongolian gazelles are more typical for closed-habitat neonate ruminants, whereas other open-habitat neonate ruminants (goitred gazelle Gazella subgutturosa, saiga antelope Saiga tatarica and reindeer Rangifer tarandus) produce low-frequency (<200 Hz) distress calls. Proximate cause for the high fundamental frequency of distress calls of neonate Mongolian gazelles is their very short, atypical vocal folds (4 mm) compared to the 7-mm vocal folds of neonate goitred gazelles, producing distress calls as low as 120 Hz.
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Volodin IA, Sibiryakova OV, Frey R, Efremova KO, Soldatova NV, Zuther S, Kisebaev TB, Salemgareev AR, Volodina EV. Individuality of distress and discomfort calls in neonates with bass voices: Wild-living goitred gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa) and saiga antelopes (Saiga tatarica). Ethology 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ilya A. Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology; Faculty of Biology; Lomonosov Moscow State University; Moscow Russia
- Scientific Research Department; Moscow Zoo; Moscow Russia
| | - Olga V. Sibiryakova
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology; Faculty of Biology; Lomonosov Moscow State University; Moscow Russia
| | - Roland Frey
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research; Berlin Germany
| | | | | | - Steffen Zuther
- Association for the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK); Astana Kazakhstan
| | - Talgat B. Kisebaev
- Association for the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK); Astana Kazakhstan
| | - Albert R. Salemgareev
- Association for the Conservation of the Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK); Astana Kazakhstan
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12
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Adult human perception of distress in the cries of bonobo, chimpanzee, and human infants. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blw016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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13
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Konerding WS, Zimmermann E, Bleich E, Hedrich HJ, Scheumann M. Female cats, but not males, adjust responsiveness to arousal in the voice of kittens. BMC Evol Biol 2016; 16:157. [PMID: 27514377 PMCID: PMC4982004 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0718-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Accepted: 07/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The infant cry is the most important communicative tool to elicit adaptive parental behaviour. Sex-specific adaptation, linked to parental investment, may have evolutionary shaped the responsiveness to changes in the voice of the infant cries. The emotional content of infant cries may trigger distinctive responsiveness either based on their general arousing properties, being part of a general affect encoding rule, or based on affective perception, linked to parental investment, differing between species. To address this question, we performed playback experiments using infant isolation calls in a species without paternal care, the domestic cat. We used kitten calls recorded in isolation contexts inducing either Low arousal (i.e., isolation only) or High arousal (i.e., additional handling), leading to respective differences in escape response of the kittens. We predicted that only females respond differently to playbacks of Low versus High arousal kitten isolation calls, based on sex-differences in parental investment. RESULTS Findings showed sex-specific responsiveness of adult cats listening to kitten isolation calls of different arousal conditions, with only females responding faster towards calls of the High versus the Low arousal condition. Breeding experience of females did not affect the result. Furthermore, female responsiveness correlated with acoustic parameters related to spectral characteristics of the fundamental frequency (F0): Females responded faster to kitten calls with lower F0 at call onset, lower minimum F0 and a steeper slope of the F0. CONCLUSIONS Our study revealed sex-specific differences in the responsiveness to kitten isolation calls of different arousal conditions independent of female breeding experience. The findings indicated that features of F0 are important to convey the arousal state of an infant. Taken together, the results suggest that differences in parental investment evolutionary shaped responsiveness (auditory sensitivity/ motivation) to infant calls in a sex-specific manner in the domestic cat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wiebke S Konerding
- Institute of AudioNeuroTechnology and Department of Experimental Otology, ENT Clinics, Hannover Medical School, Stadtfelddamm 34, 30625, Hannover, Germany.,Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany
| | - Elke Zimmermann
- Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany
| | - Eva Bleich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Central Animal Facility, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany
| | - Hans-Jürgen Hedrich
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Central Animal Facility, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Straße 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany
| | - Marina Scheumann
- Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany.
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14
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Labra A, Reyes-Olivares C, Weymann M. Asymmetric Response to Heterotypic Distress Calls in the LizardLiolaemus chiliensis. Ethology 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Antonieta Labra
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas; Facultad de Medicina; Universidad de Chile; Casilla 70005, Correo 7, Santiago Chile
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES); Department of Bioscience; University of Oslo; P.O.Box 1066 Blinder, N-0316, Oslo Norway
| | - Claudio Reyes-Olivares
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas; Facultad de Medicina; Universidad de Chile; Casilla 70005, Correo 7, Santiago Chile
| | - Michael Weymann
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas; Facultad de Medicina; Universidad de Chile; Casilla 70005, Correo 7, Santiago Chile
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15
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Volodin IA, Sibiryakova OV, Volodina EV. Sex and age-class differences in calls of Siberian wapiti Cervus elaphus sibiricus. Mamm Biol 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2015.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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16
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Cinková I, Policht R. Sex and species recognition by wild male southern white rhinoceros using contact pant calls. Anim Cogn 2015; 19:375-86. [PMID: 26577089 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-015-0940-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2015] [Revised: 10/24/2015] [Accepted: 11/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Recognition of information from acoustic signals is crucial in many animals, and individuals are under selection pressure to discriminate between the signals of conspecifics and heterospecifics or males and females. Here, we first report that rhinos use information encoded in their calls to assess conspecifics and individuals of closely related species. The southern (Ceratotherium simum) and critically endangered northern (C. cottoni) white rhinos are the most social out of all the rhinoceros species and use a contact call pant. We found that southern white rhino pant calls provide reliable information about the caller's sex, age class and social situation. Playback experiments on wild territorial southern white rhinoceros males revealed that they responded more strongly to the pant calls of conspecific females compared to the calls of other territorial males. This suggests that pant calls are more important form of communication between males and females than between territorial males. Territorial southern males also discriminated between female and territorial male calls of northern species and reacted more intensively to the calls of northern than southern males. This might be caused by a novelty effect since both species naturally live in allopatry. We conclude that white rhinos can directly benefit from assessing individuals at long distances using vocal cues especially because their eyesight is poor. Pant calls thus likely play a significant role in their social relationships and spatial organization. In addition, better understanding of vocal communication in white rhinos might be helpful in conservation management particularly because of their low reproduction in captivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Cinková
- Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, 17. listopadu 50, Olomouc, 771 46, Czech Republic.
| | - Richard Policht
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic.,Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
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17
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Baotic A, Sicks F, Stoeger AS. Nocturnal "humming" vocalizations: adding a piece to the puzzle of giraffe vocal communication. BMC Res Notes 2015; 8:425. [PMID: 26353836 PMCID: PMC4565008 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-015-1394-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2015] [Accepted: 08/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent research reveals that giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis sp.) exhibit a socially structured, fission-fusion system. In other species possessing this kind of society, information exchange is important and vocal communication is usually well developed. But is this true for giraffes? Giraffes are known to produce sounds, but there is no evidence that they use vocalizations for communication. Reports on giraffe vocalizations are mainly anecdotal and the missing acoustic descriptions make it difficult to establish a call nomenclature. Despite inconclusive evidence to date, it is widely assumed that giraffes produce infrasonic vocalizations similar to elephants. In order to initiate a more detailed investigation of the vocal communication in giraffes, we collected data of captive individuals during day and night. We particularly focussed on detecting tonal, infrasonic or sustained vocalizations. FINDINGS We collected over 947 h of audio material in three European zoos and quantified the spectral and temporal components of acoustic signals to obtain an accurate set of acoustic parameters. Besides the known burst, snorts and grunts, we detected harmonic, sustained and frequency-modulated "humming" vocalizations during night recordings. None of the recorded vocalizations were within the infrasonic range. CONCLUSIONS These results show that giraffes do produce vocalizations, which, based on their acoustic structure, might have the potential to function as communicative signals to convey information about the physical and motivational attributes of the caller. The data further reveal that the assumption of infrasonic communication in giraffes needs to be considered with caution and requires further investigations in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Baotic
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Florian Sicks
- Berlin Tierpark, Am Tierpark 125, 10319, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Angela S Stoeger
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
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18
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Magrath RD, Haff TM, McLachlan JR, Igic B. Wild birds learn to eavesdrop on heterospecific alarm calls. Curr Biol 2015; 25:2047-50. [PMID: 26190077 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2015] [Revised: 05/07/2015] [Accepted: 06/11/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Many vertebrates gain critical information about danger by eavesdropping on other species' alarm calls [1], providing an excellent context in which to study information flow among species in animal communities [2-4]. A fundamental but unresolved question is how individuals recognize other species' alarm calls. Although individuals respond to heterospecific calls that are acoustically similar to their own, alarms vary greatly among species, and eavesdropping probably also requires learning [1]. Surprisingly, however, we lack studies demonstrating such learning. Here, we show experimentally that individual wild superb fairy-wrens, Malurus cyaneus, can learn to recognize previously unfamiliar alarm calls. We trained individuals by broadcasting unfamiliar sounds while simultaneously presenting gliding predatory birds. Fairy-wrens in the experiment originally ignored these sounds, but most fled in response to the sounds after two days' training. The learned response was not due to increased responsiveness in general or to sensitization following repeated exposure and was independent of sound structure. Learning can therefore help explain the taxonomic diversity of eavesdropping and the refining of behavior to suit the local community. In combination with previous work on unfamiliar predator recognition (e.g., [5]), our results imply rapid spread of anti-predator behavior within wild populations and suggest methods for training captive-bred animals before release into the wild [6]. A remaining challenge is to assess the importance and consequences of direct association of unfamiliar sounds with predators, compared with social learning-such as associating unfamiliar sounds with conspecific alarms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert D Magrath
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia.
| | - Tonya M Haff
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Jessica R McLachlan
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
| | - Branislav Igic
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra 2601, Australia
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Sibiryakova OV, Volodin IA, Matrosova VA, Volodina EV, Garcia AJ, Gallego L, Landete-Castillejos T. The power of oral and nasal calls to discriminate individual mothers and offspring in red deer, Cervus elaphus. Front Zool 2015; 12:2. [PMID: 25610491 PMCID: PMC4301055 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-014-0094-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2014] [Accepted: 12/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In most species, acoustical cues are crucial for mother-offspring recognition. Studies of a few species of ungulates showed that potential for individual recognition may differ between nasal and oral contact calls. RESULTS Vocalizations of 28 hinds and 31 calves of farmed Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) were examined with discriminant function analyses (DFA) to determine whether acoustic structure of their oral and nasal contact calls encodes information about the caller's identity. Contact calls were elicited by brief separation of individually identified animals by a distance over 10 m or by a bar fence. Both oral and nasal calls of both hinds and calves showed high potential to discriminate individuals. In hinds, individuality was significantly higher in the oral than in the nasal calls, whereas in calves, individuality was equally well expressed in both oral and nasal calls. For calves, the maximum fundamental frequency was higher and the duration was longer in oral calls than in nasal calls. For hinds, the maximum fundamental frequency and the duration were indistinguishable between oral and nasal calls. Compared to the pooled sample of oral and nasal calls, separate oral or nasal call samples provided better classifying accuracy to individual in either hinds or calves. Nevertheless, in both hinds and calves, even in the pooled sample of oral and nasal calls, the degree of individual identity was 2-3 times greater than expected by chance. For hinds that provided calls in both years, cross-validation of calls collected in 2012 with discriminant functions created with calls from 2011 showed a strong decrease of classifying accuracy to individual. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest different potentials of nasal and oral calls to allow the discrimination of individuals among hinds, but not among red deer calves. The high potential of individual recognition even with the pooled sample of oral and nasal calls allows mother and young to remember only one set of acoustic variables for mutual vocal recognition. Poor between-year stability of individual characteristics of hind oral and nasal calls would require updating keys to individual recognition each calving season.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga V Sibiryakova
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 12/1, Moscow, 119991 Russia
| | - Ilya A Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 12/1, Moscow, 119991 Russia ; Scientific Research Department, Moscow Zoo, B. Gruzinskaya, 1, Moscow, 123242 Russia
| | - Vera A Matrosova
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology RAS, Vavilov str., 32, Moscow, 119991 Russia
| | - Elena V Volodina
- Scientific Research Department, Moscow Zoo, B. Gruzinskaya, 1, Moscow, 123242 Russia
| | - Andrés J Garcia
- Animal Science Group. IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), IDR, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain
| | - Laureano Gallego
- Animal Science Group. IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), IDR, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain
| | - Tomás Landete-Castillejos
- Animal Science Group. IREC (UCLM-CSIC-JCCM), IDR, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain
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Lingle S, Riede T. Deer Mothers Are Sensitive to Infant Distress Vocalizations of Diverse Mammalian Species. Am Nat 2014; 184:510-22. [DOI: 10.1086/677677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Lynch E, Northrup JM, McKenna MF, Anderson CR, Angeloni L, Wittemyer G. Landscape and anthropogenic features influence the use of auditory vigilance by mule deer. Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Magrath RD, Haff TM, Fallow PM, Radford AN. Eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls: from mechanisms to consequences. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2014; 90:560-86. [PMID: 24917385 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 211] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2013] [Revised: 05/05/2014] [Accepted: 05/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Animals often gather information from other species by eavesdropping on signals intended for others. We review the extent, benefits, mechanisms, and ecological and evolutionary consequences of eavesdropping on other species' alarm calls. Eavesdropping has been shown experimentally in about 70 vertebrate species, and can entail closely or distantly related species. The benefits of eavesdropping include prompting immediate anti-predator responses, indirect enhancement of foraging or changed habitat use, and learning about predators. Eavesdropping on heterospecifics can provide more eyes looking for danger, complementary information to that from conspecifics, and potentially information at reduced cost. The response to heterospecific calls can be unlearned or learned. Unlearned responses occur when heterospecific calls have acoustic features similar to that used to recognize conspecific calls, or acoustic properties such as harsh sounds that prompt attention and may allow recognition or facilitate learning. Learning to recognize heterospecific alarm calls is probably essential to allow recognition of the diversity of alarm calls, but the evidence is largely indirect. The value of eavesdropping on different species is affected by problems of signal interception and the relevance of heterospecific alarm calls to the listener. These constraints on eavesdropping will affect how information flows among species and thus affect community function. Some species are 'keystone' information producers, while others largely seek information, and these differences probably affect the formation and function of mixed-species groups. Eavesdroppers might also integrate alarm calls from multiple species to extract relevant and reliable information. Eavesdropping appears to set the stage for the evolution of interspecific deception and communication, and potentially affects communication within species. Overall, we now know that eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls is an important source of information for many species across the globe, and there are ample opportunities for research on mechanisms, fitness consequences and implications for community function and signalling evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert D Magrath
- Division of Evolution, Ecology & Genetics, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia
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Volodin IA, Matrosova VA, Volodina EV, Garcia AJ, Gallego L, Márquez R, Llusia D, Beltrán JF, Landete-Castillejos T. Sex and age-class differences in calls of Iberian red deer during the rut: reversed sex dimorphism of pitch and contrasting roars from farmed and wild stags. Acta Ethol 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s10211-013-0179-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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