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Clink DJ, Lau AR, Kanthaswamy S, Johnson LM, Bales KL. Moderate evidence for heritability in the duet contributions of a South American primate. J Evol Biol 2022; 35:51-63. [PMID: 34822207 PMCID: PMC9514391 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 10/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Acoustic signals are ubiquitous across mammalian taxa. They serve a myriad of functions related to the formation and maintenance of social bonds and can provide conspecifics information about caller condition, motivation and identity. Disentangling the relative importance of evolutionary mechanisms that shape vocal variation is difficult, and little is known about heritability of mammalian vocalizations. Duetting--coordinated vocalizations within male and female pairs--arose independently at least four times across the Primate Order. Primate duets contain individual- or pair-level signatures, but the mechanisms that shape this variation remain unclear. Here, we test for evidence of heritability in two call types (pulses and chirps) from the duets of captive coppery titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus). We extracted four features--note rate, duration, minimum and maximum fundamental frequency--from spectrograms of pulses and chirps, and estimated heritability of the features. We also tested whether features varied with sex or body weight. We found evidence for moderate heritability in one of the features examined (chirp note rate), whereas inter-individual variance was the most important source of variance for the rest of the features. We did not find evidence for sex differences in any of the features, but we did find that body weight and fundamental frequency of chirp elements covaried. Kin recognition has been invoked as a possible explanation for heritability or kin signatures in mammalian vocalizations. Although the function of primate duets remains a topic of debate, the presence of moderate heritability in titi monkey chirp elements indicates duets may serve a kin recognition function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dena J. Clink
- K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14850
| | - Allison R. Lau
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616
| | - Sreetharan Kanthaswamy
- School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University (ASU) at the West Campus, Glendale, AZ, USA,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Lynn M. Johnson
- Cornell Statistical Consulting Unit, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Karen L. Bales
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616,California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616,Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA,Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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Martin M, Gridley T, Harvey Elwen S, Charrier I. Vocal repertoire, micro-geographical variation and within-species acoustic partitioning in a highly colonial pinniped, the Cape fur seal. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2021; 8:202241. [PMID: 34729204 PMCID: PMC8548791 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.202241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Communication is fundamental for the survival of animal species as signals are involved in many social interactions (mate selection, parental care, collective behaviours). The acoustic channel is an important modality used by birds and mammals to reliably exchange information among individuals. In group-living species, the propagation of vocal signals is limited due to the density of individuals and the background noise. Vocal exchanges are, therefore, challenging. This study is the first investigation into the acoustic communication system of the Cape fur seal (CFS), one of the most colonial mammals with breeding colonies of hundreds of thousands of individuals. We described the acoustic features and social function of five in-air call types from data collected at two colonies. Intra-species variations in these vocalizations highlight a potential ability to convey information about the age and/or sex of the emitter. Using two classification methods, we found that the five call types have distinguishable frequency features and occupy distinct acoustic niches indicating acoustic partitioning in the repertoire. The CFS vocalizations appear to contain characteristics advantageous for discrimination among individuals, which could enhance social interactions in their noisy and confusing acoustic environment. This study provides a basis for our understanding of the CFS acoustic communication system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Martin
- Equipe Communications Acoustiques, Neuro-PSI, CNRS UMR 9197, Université Paris Saclay, Orsay, France
- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPC, 4 Bath Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town 7945, South Africa
| | - Tess Gridley
- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPC, 4 Bath Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town 7945, South Africa
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7605, South Africa
| | - Simon Harvey Elwen
- Sea Search Research and Conservation NPC, 4 Bath Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town 7945, South Africa
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7605, South Africa
| | - Isabelle Charrier
- Equipe Communications Acoustiques, Neuro-PSI, CNRS UMR 9197, Université Paris Saclay, Orsay, France
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Clink DJ, Bernard H, Crofoot MC, Marshall AJ. Investigating Individual Vocal Signatures and Small-Scale Patterns of Geographic Variation in Female Bornean Gibbon (Hylobates muelleri) Great Calls. INT J PRIMATOL 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-017-9972-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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Charrier I, Marchesseau S, Dendrinos P, Tounta E, Karamanlidis AA. Individual signatures in the vocal repertoire of the endangered Mediterranean monk seal: new perspectives for population monitoring. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2017. [DOI: 10.3354/esr00829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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Kastelein RA, van den Belt I, Jennings N, de Kruijf R. Behavior and body mass changes of a mother and calf Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) during the suckling period. Zoo Biol 2014; 34:9-19. [PMID: 25511011 DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2014] [Revised: 10/06/2014] [Accepted: 10/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The behavior of a 13-year-old female Pacific walrus and her first calf is described during the first 7 months of the 19-month suckling period. The calf vocalized before 62% of suckling sessions. The mother immediately responded after 84% of vocalizations; after 44% she allowed a suckling session. The number of suckling sessions per 24-h period decreased from on average nine in the second week after birth to two by the thirteenth week. Thereafter, the number of suckling sessions fluctuated between 3 and 5/day. The average suckling session duration increased from 4 min/day to around 17 min/day. The average effective suckling time per session increased from on average 2 to 10 min. The number of breaks decreased during the study period from around 40 to 20 per session. The mother spent on average 47% of her time resting, the calf 44%. The remaining time was spent in locomotion, and suckling, playing, investigating, and looking. Mother and calf spent on average 51% of time indoors. The mother spent 43% of her time in the water, the calf 39%. The calf's body mass at birth was 55 kg; it increased to 178 kg at 27 weeks. The mother did not eat for the first 5 days after delivery, and she ate less than usual during the next 6 days. The mother's mass eventually stabilized at 1024 kg (>before gestation). The calf was not given formula and was weaned onto fish. This is the first detailed description of a captive Pacific walrus's suckling period. It could benefit the husbandry of future captive-born walruses, and may elucidate the behavior of wild walruses during suckling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald A Kastelein
- Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO), Julianalaan, Harderwijk, The Netherlands
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