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Eddington VM, Nichols HK, Calistri-Yeh A, Young VKH, Kloepper LN. Graded alarm call behavior in wild fox squirrels (Sciurus niger). THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2024; 155:1308-1314. [PMID: 38349807 DOI: 10.1121/10.0024771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Distress or alarm calls are vocalizations made when animals are in stressful situations or faced with a predator. Squirrels (Sciuridae) are known for being very vocal; however, most studies on alarm vocalizations are limited to ground squirrels. We investigated the acoustic behavior of the arboreal fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) under different conditions. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that fox squirrels modify acoustic alarm behavior in response to different perceived threat levels and that this response is affected by sex and individual experience. Squirrels were trapped, and acoustic data were collected during periods in which the squirrels were alone, approached by humans, manipulated in traps, and handled by humans. Calls were categorized based on acoustic features, and we quantified the call rate (calls/s) across conditions. Threat level significantly affected vocal rate, with squirrels producing more calls overall when alone but shifting the proportion of emitted call types as threat level increased. Sex, capture history, and individual had no effect on call rate. These results suggest that fox squirrels use a graded alarm call response system to respond to threatening situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valerie M Eddington
- Department of Biology, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
- Center for Acoustics Research and Education, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
| | - Hannah K Nichols
- Department of Biology, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
| | - Adrienne Calistri-Yeh
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | | | - Laura N Kloepper
- Department of Biology, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
- Center for Acoustics Research and Education, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
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Selection levels on vocal individuality: strategic use or byproduct. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Volodin IA, Yurlova DD, Ilchenko OG, Vasilieva NA, Volodina EV. Non-individualistic ultrasonic and audible isolation calls throughout ontogeny in a rodent, Eolagurus luteus. Behav Processes 2021; 193:104540. [PMID: 34774667 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104540] [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: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Acoustic individuality is present in diverse taxa of mammals and birds, becoming especially prominent in those age groups for which discriminating conspecifics by voice is critically important. This study compares, for the first time, the ontogenetic changes of acoustic individuality of ultrasonic and audible calls (USVs and AUDs) across 12 age-classes (from neonates to adults) in captive yellow steppe lemmings Eolagurus luteus. We found that, in this rodent species, the isolation-induced USVs and AUDs are not individually distinct at any age. We discuss that this result is unusual, because discriminating individuals by individualistic vocal traits may be important for such a social species as yellow steppe lemming. We also discuss the potential role of acoustic individuality in studies including rodent models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilya A Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 1/12, Moscow 119234, Russia; Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia.
| | - Daria D Yurlova
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 1/12, Moscow 119234, Russia.
| | - Olga G Ilchenko
- Small Mammals Department, Moscow Zoo, B. Gruzinskaya, 1, Moscow 123242, Russia.
| | - Nina A Vasilieva
- Department of Population Ecology, 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, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect, 33, Moscow 119071, Russia.
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Volodin IA, Volodina EV, Frey R, Karaseva KD, Kirilyuk VE. Daurian pika (Ochotona dauurica) alarm calls: individual acoustic variation in a lagomorph with audible through ultrasonic vocalizations. J Mammal 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyab048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Colonial lagomorphs warn conspecifics of potential danger with alarm calls encoding information about attributes of presumptive predators as well as the caller. In this study, we show that alarm calls of Daurian pikas, Ochotona dauurica (Pallas, 1776), encode information about caller identity. We recorded the alarm calls produced toward a surrogate predator (researcher), slowly moving (0.5–1 km/h) between densely distributed colonies. The alarm calls of most (32 of the 35) callers started in the ultrasonic range at 22.41 kHz on average and rapidly decreased to 3.88 kHz on average at call end. Call duration was very short (0.057 s on average). The accuracy of classifying alarm calls to correct callers with discriminant function analysis (DFA) was 93.71% for the manually measured set of 12 acoustic variables and 95.43% for the semiautomatically measured set of 12 acoustic variables; in both cases exceeding the level of chance (17.28% or 17.33%, respectively). Nonlinear vocal phenomena (biphonations) only were detected in one individual. We discuss the relationship between vocal traits, individuality, vocal production mechanisms, and functions, of pika alarm calls. We propose a potential divergence of alarm calls in Asian pikas to high-frequency whistles (> 20 kHz in Daurian pikas) and in American pikas to low-frequency emissions (0.4–1.3 kHz in Ochotona princeps) during the evolutionary radiation of pikas at the center of the origin of lagomorphs in East Asia and their subsequent geographic dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilya A Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena V Volodina
- Department of Behaviour and Behavioural Ecology of Mammals, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Roland Frey
- Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Kseniya D Karaseva
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vadim E Kirilyuk
- Daursky State Nature Biosphere Reserve, Nizhnii Tsasuchei, Ononskii District, Zabaikalskii Krai, Russia
- Department of Biogeography, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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Calcari C, Pilenga C, Baciadonna L, Gamba M, Favaro L. Long-term stability of vocal individuality cues in a territorial and monogamous seabird. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:1165-1169. [PMID: 33973095 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01518-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The stability of individual acoustic features is fundamental in social species, and more importantly in monogamous and territorial species, showing long-term fidelity both to the partner and the breeding site. In this study, the stability over time of two discrete vocal types was investigated in the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), a monogamous and territorial seabird. Contact calls and ecstatic display songs were recorded from an ex situ colony in 2017 and in 2020. For each vocalisation, we measured 14 spectral and temporal acoustic parameters related to both source and filter components. Two separate leave-one-out cross-validated Discriminant Function Analyses (DFA) were then performed, generating the discriminant functions from the vocalisations collected in 2017 to classify those recorded in 2020. The DFA correctly classified 62% of the contact calls (10 subjects) and 80.9% of the ecstatic display songs (seven subjects) according to the correct emitter, showing that acoustic cues to individuality encoded in both vocal types remained unchanged over four consecutive breeding seasons. We suggest that, in this monogamous and territorial bird species, individual acoustic stability could be selected for to identify groupmates and neighbours over the years and to help couples to reunite in consecutive breeding seasons, increasing individual fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Calcari
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Luigi Baciadonna
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Livio Favaro
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
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Goncharov D, Policht R, Hambálková L, Salovarov V, Hart V. Individual-based acoustic variation of the alarm calls in the long-tailed ground squirrel. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:200147. [PMID: 33972833 PMCID: PMC8074579 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Based on their phylogenetic position, Nearctic ground squirrels are closest relatives to the long-tailed ground squirrel Urocitellus undulates even though it has Palaearctic distribution. We aimed to investigate the variability of alarm calls of the long-tailed ground squirrel to test the individual variation in alarm calls. This species is known to produce two types of alarm calls: whistle alarms and wideband calls. Although ground squirrels are a model group for the study of vocal individuality, this phenomenon has not yet been studied in a species producing two such completely different types of alarms. Most of ground squirrel species produce either whistle or wideband alarms and this species represents a unique model for testing the degree of individual variability depending on completely different acoustic structures. We analysed 269 whistle alarms produced by 13 individuals and 591 wideband alarms from 25 individuals at the western part of Lake Baikal. A discriminant function analysis (DFA) assigned 93.5% (88.9%, cross-validated result) of whistle alarms to the correct individual and 91.4% (84%) of wideband alarms. This is the first evidence of individual variation in wideband alarms compared with whistle alarms and occurrence of vocal individuality in two warning signals of a completely different acoustic structure produced by a ground squirrel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Goncharov
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic
- Irkutsk State Agrarian University, 59 Timiryazev St, Irkutsk 664038, Russia
| | - Richard Policht
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Hambálková
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic
| | - Viktor Salovarov
- Irkutsk State Agrarian University, 59 Timiryazev St, Irkutsk 664038, Russia
| | - Vlastimil Hart
- Department of Game Management and Wildlife Biology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic
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Schneiderová I, Štefanská L, Kratochvíl L. Geographic variability in the alarm calls of the European ground squirrel. Curr Zool 2020; 66:407-415. [PMID: 32617089 PMCID: PMC7319451 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoz055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2019] [Accepted: 11/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Geographic variability in vocalizations has been documented in many mammalian species. We examined to what extent it applies to the alarm calls of the European ground squirrel Spermophilus citellus. We recorded the calls of 82 adult individuals from 5 natural colonies in the Czech Republic and 24 adult individuals from an artificial seminatural colony located in a Czech zoo. The founders of this colony originated from 4 different natural colonies in the Czech Republic. Our results showed that there are hardly any differences in the acoustic structure of the alarm calls between male and female European ground squirrels. Discriminant function analysis showed the highest degree of discriminability for the most isolated sites (54-74% of individuals classified correctly), whereas the lowest degree of discriminability was found for 2 interconnected colonies (38-40% individuals classified correctly). Individuals from the artificial seminatural colony were often classified correctly to this colony (58% classified correctly); however, the precision of the classification was comparatively relatively low, that is, many individuals from other colonies were incorrectly classified into this seminatural colony. This likely corresponds to the different origins of its founders. These findings indicate that there is a rather substantial geographic variability in the alarm calls of the European ground squirrel, and our study highlights its possible impact on conservation measures such as establishing artificial colonies or reintroductions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irena Schneiderová
- Prague Zoological Garden, U Trojského zámku 3/120, Praha 7, 171 00, Czech Republic
- Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 165 00, Praha 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Štefanská
- Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Kaplanova 1931/1, Praha 11, 148 00, Czech Republic
| | - Lukáš Kratochvíl
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, 128 00, Praha 2, Czech Republic
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Loughry W, Oeser M, Hoogland J. Alarm calls of the same individual vary during a response to the same predator in Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni). CAN J ZOOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2019-0064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Many animals emit vocalizations in a repetitive series, but are all the calls within a series structurally the same? To answer this question, we recorded the barks of adult female Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni (Baird, 1855)) during 5 min experimental presentations of several terrestrial stimuli. We measured eight variables (primarily pitch and duration measures) of the first, middle, and last barks in each bout of barking produced by each of 24 females, as well as the duration of inter-bout intervals, the number of barks per bout, and the rate of barking per bout. We found that first barks were significantly longer and higher pitched than middle or last barks. Some of these differences were affected by the number of barks in a bout. Regardless of bark position, barks became longer and lower pitched in later bouts, and inter-bout intervals, number of barks per bout, and the rate of barking per bout all declined in later bouts. Our results show that bark structure can vary even within a single context and within a short period of time. Thus, variation due to call position within and across bouts of calling is a potentially important confound for studies examining other sources of acoustic variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- W.J. Loughry
- Department of Biology, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA 31698-0015, USA
| | - M. Oeser
- Department of Biology, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA 31698-0015, USA
| | - J.L. Hoogland
- Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Frostburg, MD 21532, USA
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Mulholland MM, Caine NG. Stability and change in the vocal signatures of common marmoset mobbing calls. BIOACOUSTICS 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/09524622.2018.1428115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Michele M. Mulholland
- Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
- Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA, USA
| | - Nancy G. Caine
- Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, San Marcos, CA, USA
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Loughry W, Oeser M, Anderson CD, Hoogland JL. The importance of individual variation in the alarm calls of Gunnison's prairie dogs. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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Tamura N, Boonkhaw P, Prayoon U, Kanchanasaka B, Hayashi F. Mating calls are a sensitive indicator of phylogenetic relationships in tropical tree squirrels (Callosciurus spp.). Mamm Biol 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2018.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Volodin IA, Matrosova VA, Frey R, Kozhevnikova JD, Isaeva IL, Volodina EV. Altai pika (Ochotona alpina) alarm calls: individual acoustic variation and the phenomenon of call-synchronous ear folding behavior. THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2018; 105:40. [PMID: 29892847 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-018-1567-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2018] [Revised: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 05/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Non-hibernating pikas collect winter food reserves and store them in hay piles. Individualization of alarm calls might allow discrimination between colony members and conspecifics trying to steal food items from a colony pile. We investigated vocal posture, vocal tract length, and individual acoustic variation of alarm calls, emitted by wild-living Altai pikas Ochotona alpina toward a researcher. Recording started when a pika started calling and lasted as long as possible. The alarm call series of 442 individual callers from different colonies consisted of discrete short (0.073-0.157 s), high-frequency (7.31-15.46 kHz), and frequency-modulated calls separated by irregular intervals. Analysis of 442 discrete calls, the second of each series, revealed that 44.34% calls lacked nonlinear phenomena, in 7.02% nonlinear phenomena covered less than half of call duration, and in 48.64% nonlinear phenomena covered more than half of call duration. Peak frequencies varied among individuals but always fitted one of three maxima corresponding to the vocal tract resonance frequencies (formants) calculated for an estimated 45-mm oral vocal tract. Discriminant analysis using variables of 8 calls per series of 36 different callers, each from a different colony, correctly assigned over 90% of the calls to individuals. Consequently, Altai pika alarm calls are individualistic and nonlinear phenomena might further increase this acoustic individualization. Additionally, video analysis revealed a call-synchronous, very fast (0.13-0.23 s) folding, depression, and subsequent re-expansion of the pinna confirming an earlier report of this behavior that apparently contributes to protecting the hearing apparatus from damage by the self-generated high-intensity alarm calls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilya A Volodin
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 12/1, Moscow, 119234, Russia. .,Scientific Research Department, Moscow Zoo, B. Gruzinskaya str., 1, Moscow, 123242, Russia.
| | - Vera A Matrosova
- Department of Structural and Functional Genomics, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vavilov str., 32, Moscow, 119991, Russia
| | - Roland Frey
- Department of Reproduction Management, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin, Germany
| | - Julia D Kozhevnikova
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, 12/1, Moscow, 119234, Russia
| | - Inna L Isaeva
- Scientific Research Department, Khakasskiy State Nature Reserve, Tsukanov str., 164, Abakan, 655017, Russia
| | - Elena V Volodina
- Scientific Research Department, Moscow Zoo, B. Gruzinskaya str., 1, Moscow, 123242, Russia
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