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Langehennig-Peristenidou A, Scheumann M. Sex differences in the impact of social relationships on individual vocal signatures in grey mouse lemurs ( Microcebus murinus). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230193. [PMID: 38768201 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0193] [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: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Vocalizations coordinate social interactions between conspecifics by conveying information concerning the individual or group identity of the sender. Social accommodation is a form of vocal learning where social affinity is signalled by converging or diverging vocalizations with those of conspecifics. To investigate whether social accommodation is linked to the social lifestyle of the sender, we investigated sex-specific differences in social accommodation in a dispersed living primate, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), where females form stable sleeping groups whereas males live solitarily. We used 482 trill calls of 36 individuals from our captive breeding colony to compare acoustic dissimilarity between individuals with genetic relatedness, social contact time and body weight. Our results showed that female trills become more similar the more time females spend with each other, independent of genetic relationship, suggesting vocal convergence. In contrast, male trills were affected more by genetic than social factors. However, focusing only on socialized males, increasing time as cage partners caused greater divergence in males' trills. Thus, grey mouse lemurs show the capacity for social accommodation, with females converging their trills to signal social closeness to sleeping group partners, whereas males do not adapt or diverge their trills to signal individual distinctiveness. 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)
| | - Marina Scheumann
- Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover , Hannover 30559, Germany
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2
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Massenet M, Philippe R, Pisanski K, Arnaud V, Barluet de Beauchesne L, Reynaud K, Mathevon N, Reby D. Puppy whines mediate maternal behavior in domestic dogs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2316818121. [PMID: 38768360 PMCID: PMC11145252 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316818121] [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: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
In mammals, offspring vocalizations typically encode information about identity and body condition, allowing parents to limit alloparenting and adjust care. But how do these vocalizations mediate parental behavior in species faced with the problem of rearing not one, but multiple offspring, such as domestic dogs? Comprehensive acoustic analyses of 4,400 whines recorded from 220 Beagle puppies in 40 litters revealed litter and individual (within litter) differences in call acoustic structure. By then playing resynthesized whines to mothers, we showed that they provided more care to their litters, and were more likely to carry the emitting loudspeaker to the nest, in response to whine variants derived from their own puppies than from strangers. Importantly, care provisioning was attenuated by experimentally moving the fundamental frequency (fo, perceived as pitch) of their own puppies' whines outside their litter-specific range. Within most litters, we found a negative relationship between puppies' whine fo and body weight. Consistent with this, playbacks showed that maternal care was stronger in response to high-pitched whine variants simulating relatively small offspring within their own litter's range compared to lower-pitched variants simulating larger offspring. We thus show that maternal care in a litter-rearing species relies on a dual assessment of offspring identity and condition, largely based on level-specific inter- and intra-litter variation in offspring call fo. This dual encoding system highlights how, even in a long-domesticated species, vocalizations reflect selective pressures to meet species-specific needs. Comparative work should now investigate whether similar communication systems have convergently evolved in other litter-rearing species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Massenet
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne42100, France
| | - Romane Philippe
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne42100, France
| | - Katarzyna Pisanski
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne42100, France
- Laboratoire de Dynamique du Langage, University Lyon 2, CNRS, Lyon69363, France
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław50-527, Poland
| | - Vincent Arnaud
- Département des arts, des lettres et du langage, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, QCG7H 2B1, Canada
| | - Lucie Barluet de Beauchesne
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne42100, France
| | - Karine Reynaud
- École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, Maisons-Alfort94700, France
- Département Physiologie Animale et Systèmes d'Elevage, Unité Mixte de Recherche en Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, CNRS, Institut National de la Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, University of Tours, Nouzilly37380, France
| | - Nicolas Mathevon
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne42100, France
- Institut universitaire de France, Paris75005, France
- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Laboratoire Cognition Humaine et Artificielle, Paris-Sciences-Lettres University, Paris75014, France
| | - David Reby
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne42100, France
- Institut universitaire de France, Paris75005, France
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3
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Grieves LA, Brady AL, Slater GF, Quinn JS. Chemical Profiles Differ between Communal Breeding Groups in a Highly Social Bird. Am Nat 2024; 203:490-502. [PMID: 38489779 DOI: 10.1086/729221] [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] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
AbstractGregarious species must distinguish group members from nongroup members. Olfaction is important for group recognition in social insects and mammals but rarely studied in birds, despite birds using olfaction in social contexts from species discrimination to kin recognition. Olfactory group recognition requires that groups have a signature odor, so we tested for preen oil and feather chemical similarity in group-living smooth-billed anis (Crotophaga ani). Physiology affects body chemistry, so we also tested for an effect of egg-laying competition, as a proxy for reproductive status, on female chemical similarity. Finally, the fermentation hypothesis for chemical recognition posits that host-associated microbes affect host odor, so we tested for covariation between chemicals and microbiota. Group members were more chemically similar across both body regions. We found no chemical differences between sexes, but females in groups with less egg-laying competition had more similar preen oil, suggesting that preen oil contains information about reproductive status. There was no overall covariation between chemicals and microbes; instead, subsets of microbes could mediate olfactory cues in birds. Preen oil and feather chemicals showed little overlap and may contain different information. This is the first demonstration of group chemical signatures in birds, a finding of particular interest given that smooth-billed anis live in nonkin breeding groups. Behavioral experiments are needed to test whether anis can distinguish group members from nongroup members using odor cues.
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Niśkiewicz M, Szymański P, Zampa L, Budka M, Osiejuk TS. Neighbour-stranger discrimination in an African wood dove inhabiting equatorial rainforest. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4252. [PMID: 38378955 PMCID: PMC10879109 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53867-7] [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: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
We investigated within- and between-individual song variation and song-based neighbour-stranger discrimination in a non-learning bird species, the blue-headed wood-dove (Turtur brehmeri), which inhabits lowland rainforests of West and Central Africa. We found that songs of this species are individually specific and have a high potential for use in individual recognition based on the time-frequency pattern of note distribution within song phrases. To test whether these differences affect behaviour, we conducted playback experiments with 19 territorial males. Each male was tested twice, once with the songs of a familiar neighbour and once with the songs of an unfamiliar stranger. We observed that males responded more aggressively to playback of a stranger's songs: they quickly approached close to the speaker and spent more time near it. However, no significant differences between treatments were observed in the vocal responses. In addition, we explored whether responses differed based on the song frequency of the focal male and/or that of the simulated intruder (i.e., playback), as this song parameter is inversely related to body size and could potentially affect males' decisions to respond to other birds. Song frequency parameters (of either the focal male or the simulated intruder) had no effect on the approaching response during playback. However, we found that the pattern of response after playback was significantly affected by the song frequency of the focal male: males with lower-frequency songs stayed closer to the simulated intruder for a longer period of time without singing, while males with higher-frequency songs returned more quickly to their initial song posts and resumed singing. Together, these results depict a consistently strong response to strangers during and after playback that is dependent on a male's self-assessment rather than assessment of a rival's strength based on his song frequency. This work provides the first experimental evidence that doves (Columbidae) can use songs for neighbour-stranger discrimination and respond according to a "dear enemy" scheme that keeps the cost of territory defence at a reasonable level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Małgorzata Niśkiewicz
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614, Poznań, Poland.
| | - Paweł Szymański
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614, Poznań, Poland
| | - Lia Zampa
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614, Poznań, Poland
| | - Michał Budka
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614, Poznań, Poland
| | - Tomasz S Osiejuk
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614, Poznań, Poland.
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Podraza ME, Moss JB, Fischer EK. Evidence for individual vocal recognition in a pair-bonding poison frog, Ranitomeya imitator. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb246753. [PMID: 38229576 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.246753] [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: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
Individually distinctive vocalizations are widespread in nature, although the ability of receivers to discriminate these signals has only been explored through limited taxonomic and social lenses. Here, we asked whether anuran advertisement calls, typically studied for their role in territory defense and mate attraction, facilitate recognition and preferential association with partners in a pair-bonding poison frog (Ranitomeya imitator). Combining no- and two-stimulus choice playback experiments, we evaluated behavioral responses of females to male acoustic stimuli. Virgin females oriented to and approached speakers broadcasting male calls independent of caller identity, implying that females are generally attracted to male acoustic stimuli outside the context of a pair bond. When pair-bonded females were presented with calls of a mate and a stranger, they showed significant preference for calls of their mate. Moreover, behavioral responses varied with breeding status: females with eggs were faster to approach stimuli than females that were pair bonded but did not currently have eggs. Our study suggests a potential role for individual vocal recognition in the formation and maintenance of pair bonds in a poison frog and raises new questions about how acoustic signals are perceived in the context of monogamy and biparental care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly E Podraza
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Jeanette B Moss
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
| | - Eva K Fischer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
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6
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Jia G, Bai S, Lin Y, Wang X, Zhu L, Lyu C, Sun G, An K, Roe AW, Li X, Gao L. Representation of conspecific vocalizations in amygdala of awake marmosets. Natl Sci Rev 2023; 10:nwad194. [PMID: 37818111 PMCID: PMC10561708 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Human speech and animal vocalizations are important for social communication and animal survival. Neurons in the auditory pathway are responsive to a range of sounds, from elementary sound features to complex acoustic sounds. For social communication, responses to distinct patterns of vocalization are usually highly specific to an individual conspecific call, in some species. This includes the specificity of sound patterns and embedded biological information. We conducted single-unit recordings in the amygdala of awake marmosets and presented calls used in marmoset communication, calls of other species and calls from specific marmoset individuals. We found that some neurons (47/262) in the amygdala distinguished 'Phee' calls from vocalizations of other animals and other types of marmoset vocalizations. Interestingly, a subset of Phee-responsive neurons (22/47) also exhibited selectivity to one out of the three Phees from two different 'caller' marmosets. Our findings suggest that, while it has traditionally been considered the key structure in the limbic system, the amygdala also represents a critical stage of socially relevant auditory perceptual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoqiang Jia
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
| | - Siyi Bai
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
- Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Yingxu Lin
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
- Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Xiaohui Wang
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
- Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Lin Zhu
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
| | - Chenfei Lyu
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
| | - Guanglong Sun
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
| | - Kang An
- College of Information, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 201418, China
| | - Anna Wang Roe
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
- MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-Machine Integration, School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
| | - Xinjian Li
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
- MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-Machine Integration, School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310020, China
| | - Lixia Gao
- Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Interdisciplinary Institute of Neuroscience and Technology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310029, China
- MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Science and Brain-Machine Integration, School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
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Favaro L, Zanoli A, Ludynia K, Snyman A, Carugati F, Friard O, Scaglione FE, Manassero L, Valazza A, Mathevon N, Gamba M, Reby D. Vocal tract shape variation contributes to individual vocal identity in African penguins. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231029. [PMID: 37817600 PMCID: PMC10565386 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1029] [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: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Variation in formant frequencies has been shown to affect social interactions and sexual competition in a range of avian species. Yet, the anatomical bases of this variation are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the morphological correlates of formants production in the vocal apparatus of African penguins. We modelled the geometry of the supra-syringeal vocal tract of 20 specimens to generate a population of virtual vocal tracts with varying dimensions. We then estimated the acoustic response of these virtual vocal tracts and extracted the centre frequency of the first four predicted formants. We demonstrate that: (i) variation in length and cross-sectional area of vocal tracts strongly affects the formant pattern, (ii) the tracheal region determines most of this variation, and (iii) the skeletal size of penguins does not correlate with the trachea length and consequently has relatively little effect on formants. We conclude that in African penguins, while the variation in vocal tract geometry generates variation in resonant frequencies supporting the discrimination of conspecifics, such variation does not provide information on the emitter's body size. Overall, our findings advance our understanding of the role of formant frequencies in bird vocal communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livio Favaro
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne, France
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Anna Zanoli
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Katrin Ludynia
- Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), Cape Town, South Africa
- Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa
| | - Albert Snyman
- Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Filippo Carugati
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Olivier Friard
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Luca Manassero
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Alberto Valazza
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Nicolas Mathevon
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, 1 rue Descartes, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - David Reby
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, 1 rue Descartes, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
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Smeele SQ, Senar JC, Aplin LM, McElreath MB. Evidence for vocal signatures and voice-prints in a wild parrot. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230835. [PMID: 37800160 PMCID: PMC10548090 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
In humans, identity is partly encoded in a voice-print that is carried across multiple vocalizations. Other species also signal vocal identity in calls, such as shown in the contact call of parrots. However, it remains unclear to what extent other call types in parrots are individually distinct, and whether there is an analogous voice-print across calls. Here we test if an individual signature is present in other call types, how stable this signature is, and if parrots exhibit voice-prints across call types. We recorded 5599 vocalizations from 229 individually marked monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) over a 2-year period in Barcelona, Spain. We examined five distinct call types, finding evidence for an individual signature in three. We further show that in the contact call, while birds are individually distinct, the calls are more variable than previously assumed, changing over short time scales (seconds to minutes). Finally, we provide evidence for voice-prints across multiple call types, with a discriminant function being able to predict caller identity across call types. This suggests that monk parakeets may be able to use vocal cues to recognize conspecifics, even across vocalization types and without necessarily needing active vocal signatures of identity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simeon Q. Smeele
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Lucy M. Aplin
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Mary Brooke McElreath
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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9
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Terranova F, Baciadonna L, Maccarone C, Isaja V, Gamba M, Favaro L. Penguins perceive variations of source- and filter-related vocal parameters of species-specific vocalisations. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1613-1622. [PMID: 37401990 PMCID: PMC10442253 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01806-w] [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: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023]
Abstract
Animal vocalisations encode a wide range of biological information about the age, sex, body size, and social status of the emitter. Moreover, vocalisations play a significant role in signalling the identity of the emitter to conspecifics. Recent studies have shown that, in the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), acoustic cues to individual identity are encoded in the fundamental frequency (F0) and resonance frequencies (formants) of the vocal tract. However, although penguins are known to produce vocalisations where F0 and formants vary among individuals, it remains to be tested whether the receivers can perceive and use such information in the individual recognition process. In this study, using the Habituation-Dishabituation (HD) paradigm, we tested the hypothesis that penguins perceive and respond to a shift of ± 20% (corresponding to the natural inter-individual variation observed in ex-situ colonies) of F0 and formant dispersion (ΔF) of species-specific calls. We found that penguins were more likely to look rapidly and for longer at the source of the sound when F0 and formants of the calls were manipulated, indicating that they could perceive variations of these parameters in the vocal signals. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that, in the African penguin, listeners can perceive changes in F0 and formants, which can be used by the receiver as potential cues for the individual discrimination of the emitter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Terranova
- 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.
| | - Chiara Maccarone
- 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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10
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Gammino B, Palacios V, Root-Gutteridge H, Reby D, Gamba M. Grey wolves (Canis lupus) discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar human voices. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1589-1600. [PMID: 37338632 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01796-9] [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: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
The ability to discriminate between different individuals based on identity cues, which is important to support the social behaviour of many animal species, has mostly been investigated in conspecific contexts. A rare example of individual heterospecific discrimination is found in domestic dogs, who are capable of recognising their owners' voices. Here, we test whether grey wolves, the nearest wild relative of dogs, also have the ability to distinguish familiar human voices, which would indicate that dogs' ability is not a consequence of domestication. Using the habituation-dishabituation paradigm, we presented captive wolves with playback recordings of their keepers' and strangers' voices producing either familiar or unfamiliar phrases. The duration of their response was significantly longer when presented with keepers' voices than with strangers' voices, demonstrating that wolves discriminated between familiar and unfamiliar speakers. This suggests that dogs' ability to discriminate between human voices was probably present in their common ancestor and may support the idea that this is a general ability of vertebrates to recognise heterospecific individuals. Our study also provides further evidence for familiar voice discrimination in a wild animal in captivity, indicating that this ability may be widespread across vertebrate species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice Gammino
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
| | - Vicente Palacios
- Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- ARCA, People and Nature, SL, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Holly Root-Gutteridge
- University of Sussex, Brighton, Sussex, UK
- Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - David Reby
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES / CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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11
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Kong E, Lee KH, Do J, Kim P, Lee D. Dynamic and stable hippocampal representations of social identity and reward expectation support associative social memory in male mice. Nat Commun 2023; 14:2597. [PMID: 37147388 PMCID: PMC10163237 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38338-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Recognizing an individual and retrieving and updating the value information assigned to the individual are fundamental abilities for establishing social relationships. To understand the neural mechanisms underlying the association between social identity and reward value, we developed Go-NoGo social discrimination paradigms that required male subject mice to distinguish between familiar mice based on their individually unique characteristics and associate them with reward availability. We found that mice could discriminate individual conspecifics through a brief nose-to-nose investigation, and this ability depended on the dorsal hippocampus. Two-photon calcium imaging revealed that dorsal CA1 hippocampal neurons represented reward expectation during social, but not non-social tasks, and these activities were maintained over days regardless of the identity of the associated mouse. Furthermore, a dynamically changing subset of hippocampal CA1 neurons discriminated between individual mice with high accuracy. Our findings suggest that the neuronal activities in CA1 provide possible neural substrates for associative social memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eunji Kong
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
- KI for Health Science and Technology (KIHST), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyu-Hee Lee
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea
| | - Jongrok Do
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea
- Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Pilhan Kim
- Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
- KI for Health Science and Technology (KIHST), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Doyun Lee
- Center for Cognition and Sociality, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, 34126, Republic of Korea.
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12
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Yu K, Wood WE, Johnston LG, Theunissen FE. Lesions to Caudomedial Nidopallium Impair Individual Vocal Recognition in the Zebra Finch. J Neurosci 2023; 43:2579-2596. [PMID: 36859308 PMCID: PMC10082456 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0643-22.2023] [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: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Many social animals can recognize other individuals by their vocalizations. This requires a memory system capable of mapping incoming acoustic signals to one of many known individuals. Using the zebra finch, a social songbird that uses songs and distance calls to communicate individual identity (Elie and Theunissen, 2018), we tested the role of two cortical-like brain regions in a vocal recognition task. We found that the rostral region of the Cadomedial Nidopallium (NCM), a secondary auditory region of the avian pallium, was necessary for maintaining auditory memories for conspecific vocalizations in both male and female birds, whereas HVC (used as a proper name), a premotor areas that gates auditory input into the vocal motor and song learning pathways in male birds (Roberts and Mooney, 2013), was not. Both NCM and HVC have previously been implicated for processing the tutor song in the context of song learning (Sakata and Yazaki-Sugiyama, 2020). Our results suggest that NCM might not only store songs as templates for future vocal imitation but also songs and calls for perceptual discrimination of vocalizers in both male and female birds. NCM could therefore operate as a site for auditory memories for vocalizations used in various facets of communication. We also observed that new auditory memories could be acquired without intact HVC or NCM but that for these new memories NCM lesions caused deficits in either memory capacity or auditory discrimination. These results suggest that the high-capacity memory functions of the avian pallial auditory system depend on NCM.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many aspects of vocal communication require the formation of auditory memories. Voice recognition, for example, requires a memory for vocalizers to identify acoustical features. In both birds and primates, the locus and neural correlates of these high-level memories remain poorly described. Previous work suggests that this memory formation is mediated by high-level sensory areas, not traditional memory areas such as the hippocampus. Using lesion experiments, we show that one secondary auditory brain region in songbirds that had previously been implicated in storing song memories for vocal imitation is also implicated in storing vocal memories for individual recognition. The role of the neural circuits in this region in interpreting the meaning of communication calls should be investigated in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Yu
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley California 94720
| | - William E Wood
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley California 94720
| | - Leah G Johnston
- Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley California 94720
| | - Frederic E Theunissen
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley California 94720
- Departments of Psychology
- Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley California 94720
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13
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Martin M, Gridley T, Elwen S, Charrier I. Early onset of postnatal individual vocal recognition in a highly colonial mammal species. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221769. [PMID: 36475443 PMCID: PMC9727656 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Mother-young vocal recognition is widespread in mammals. The features of vocal recognition are known to be shaped by the ecological constraints faced by each species. In some species, a rapid establishment of mother-young vocal recognition is crucial for offspring's survival. However, knowledge of the precise features of this recognition system, especially the timing of the onset in the first hours after birth, is often lacking. Here we show that Cape fur seal females can recognize their pup's voice 2-4 h after parturition and that pups develop this aptitude 4-6 h after birth. This study is the first to investigate this mechanism in a wild and free-ranging mammal from only 2 h after birth. We report the fastest establishment of mother-young vocal recognition for any mammalian species, including humans, described to date. Such early vocal identification in pups suggests an in utero vocal imprinting. These findings highlight the synergistic role of environmental constraints and biological traits in optimizing the timing of individual vocal recognition onset in vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Martin
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, UMR 9197, 91400 Saclay, 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 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
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, UMR 9197, 91400 Saclay, France
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14
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Bergmann A, Gloza-Rausch F, Wimmer B, Kugelschafter K, Knörnschild M. Similarities in social calls during autumn swarming may facilitate interspecific communication between Myotis bat species. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.950951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Bats employ a variety of social calls for communication purposes. However, for most species, social calls are far less studied than echolocation calls and their specific function often remains unclear. We investigated the function of in-flight social calls during autumn swarming in front of a large hibernaculum in Northern Germany, whose main inhabitants are two species of Myotis bats, Natterer’s bats (Myotis nattereri) and Daubenton’s bats (Myotis daubentonii). We recorded social calls in nights of high swarming activity and grouped the calls based on their spectro-temporal structure into ten types and verified our visual classification by a discriminant function analysis. Whenever possible, we subsequently assigned social calls to either M. daubentonii or M. nattereri by analyzing the echolocation calls surrounding them. As many bats echolocate at the same time during swarming, we did not analyze single echolocation calls but the “soundscape” surrounding each social call instead, encompassing not only spectral parameters but also the timbre (vocal “color”) of echolocation calls. Both species employ comparatively similar social call types in a swarming context, even though there are subtle differences in call parameters between species. To additionally gain information about the general function of social calls produced in a swarming context, we performed playback experiments with free-flying bats in the vicinity of the roost, using three different call types from both species, respectively. In three out of six treatments, bat activity (approximated as echolocation call rate) increased during and after stimulus presentation, indicating that bats inspected or approached the playback site. Using a camera trap, we were sometimes able to identify the species of approaching bats. Based on the photos taken during playbacks, we assume one call type to support interspecific communication while another call type works for intraspecific group cohesion.
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15
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Perroux TA, McElligott AG, Briefer EF. Goat kid recognition of their mothers' calls is not impacted by changes in fundamental frequency or formants. J Zool (1987) 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.13017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- T. A. Perroux
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR China
- Behavioral Ecology Group, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
| | - A. G. McElligott
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR China
- Centre for Animal Health and Welfare Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR China
| | - E. F. Briefer
- Behavioral Ecology Group, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
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16
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Nesting jackdaws’ responses to human voices vary with local disturbance levels and the gender of the speaker. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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17
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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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18
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Bonobos assign meaning to food calls based on caller food preferences. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0267574. [PMID: 35704564 PMCID: PMC9200338 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Human communication relies heavily on pragmatic competence. Speech utterances are often ambiguous requiring listeners to use interaction history, shared knowledge, presumed intention and other contextual variables to make inferences about a speaker’s meaning. To probe the evolutionary origins of pragmatic competence we tested whether bonobos (Pan paniscus) can make inferences about the type of food available from listening to other group members’ food calls. We trained two group members to either prefer blue or pink chow and demonstrated these preferences to observers. A third group member served as an untrained control. In playback experiments, we broadcast the food calls of a trained demonstrator and the untrained group member to investigate whether subjects were able to infer which coloured chow was most likely available, based on the callers’ trained food preferences or lack thereof. As predicted, when hearing the untrained group member’s calls, subjects did not exhibit a bias, whereas they responded with a significant foraging bias when hearing a trained group member’s calls. These findings suggest that bonobos may take into account the idiosyncratic food preferences of others, although subjects probably differed in what they remembered.
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19
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Bull JJ, Gomulkiewicz R. The sterile insect technique is protected from evolution of mate discrimination. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13301. [PMID: 35462772 PMCID: PMC9022645 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The sterile insect technique (SIT) has been used to suppress and even extinguish pest insect populations. The method involves releasing artificially reared insects (usually males) that, when mating with wild individuals, sterilize the broods. If administered on a large enough scale, the sterility can collapse the population. Precedents from other forms of population suppression, especially chemicals, raise the possibility of resistance evolving against the SIT. Here, we consider resistance in the form of evolution of female discrimination to avoid mating with sterile males. Is resistance evolution expected? Methods We offer mathematical models to consider the dynamics of this process. Most of our models assume a constant-release protocol, in which the same density of males is released every generation, regardless of wild male density. A few models instead assume proportional release, in which sterile releases are adjusted to be a constant proportion of wild males. Results We generally find that the evolution of female discrimination, although favored by selection, will often be too slow to halt population collapse when a constant-release implementation of the SIT is applied appropriately and continually. The accelerating efficacy of sterile males in dominating matings as the population collapses works equally against discriminating females as against non-discriminating females, and rare genes for discrimination are too slow to ascend to prevent the loss of females that discriminate. Even when migration from source populations sustains the treated population, continued application of the SIT can prevent evolution of discrimination. However, periodic premature cessation of the SIT does allow discrimination to evolve. Likewise, use of a 'proportional-release' protocol is also prone to escape from extinction if discriminating genotypes exist in the population, even if those genotypes are initially rare. Overall, the SIT is robust against the evolution of mate discrimination provided care is taken to avoid some basic pitfalls. The models here provide insight for designing programs to avoid those pitfalls.
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Affiliation(s)
- James J. Bull
- Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, United States of America
| | - Richard Gomulkiewicz
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, United States of America
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20
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Tumulty JP, Fouilloux CA, Vallejos JG, Bee MA. Predicting and measuring decision rules for social recognition in a Neotropical frog. Am Nat 2022; 200:E77-E92. [DOI: 10.1086/720279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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21
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Vocal recognition of distance calls in a group-living basal bird: the greylag goose, Anser anser. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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22
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Spezie G, Torti V, Bonadonna G, De Gregorio C, Valente D, Giacoma C, Gamba M. Evidence for acoustic discrimination in lemurs: a playback study on wild indris (Indri indri). Curr Zool 2022; 69:41-49. [PMID: 36974154 PMCID: PMC10039182 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoac009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Indris (Indri indri) are group-living lemurs which occupy stable territories over several years and perform remarkable long-distance vocal displays. Vocal exchanges between long-term territory neighbours may contribute to assessing reciprocal resource holding potentials, thus adaptively reducing the costs of territorial defence by limiting aggressive escalation. Previous work showed that indris' songs show distinctive acoustic features at individual and group level. However, the possibility that indris use such cues for individual or group-level recognition has never been investigated experimentally. We conducted a playback experiment to test whether indris discriminate between familiar and non-familiar songs. Our rationale lies in the hypothesis of the dear enemy phenomenon, which predicts that territorial animals will show reduced aggression levels towards familiar neighbours compared to novel rivals. We played back stimulus recordings to wild indris from their territory boundaries and examined their responses in terms of vocal and behavioural indicators of willingness to engage in a fight. In line with our predictions, focal animals responded more rapidly and approached more often the speaker in response to playback stimuli of non-familiar individuals than to stimuli of neighbouring groups. These results indicate that indris can discriminate between different classes of intruders based on distinctive acoustic features of their song choruses. We suggest that increased aggression directed towards unfamiliar intruders may be explained by higher threat levels associated with dispersal and group formation dynamics. We further discuss the relevance of these findings in a strepsirrhine primate model for comparative studies of vocal communication and sociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Spezie
- Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Valeria Torti
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Nature Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Giovanna Bonadonna
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Nature Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Chiara De Gregorio
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Nature Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Daria Valente
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Nature Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Cristina Giacoma
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Nature Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, School of Nature Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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23
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Nauta J, Khaluf Y, Simoens P. Resource ephemerality influences effectiveness of altruistic behavior in collective foraging. SWARM INTELLIGENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s11721-021-00205-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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24
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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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25
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Huang YK, Chen HC, Chiang PJ, Sun YH. Vocal behavior of the Mountain Hawk-Eagle Nisaetus nipalensis in Taiwan. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
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26
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Szenczi P, Urrutia A, Hudson R, Bánszegi O. Are you my mummy? Long-term olfactory memory of mother's body odour by offspring in the domestic cat. Anim Cogn 2021; 25:21-26. [PMID: 34312746 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01537-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Longevity of odour memories, particularly those acquired during early development, has been documented in a wide range of taxa. Here, we report that kittens of the domestic cat retained a memory into adult life of their mother´s body odour experienced before weaning. Kittens from 15 litters were tested when permanently separated from their mother at weaning on postnatal week 8, and tested again when 4 and 6 months and over 1 year of age. When presented with a simultaneous three-way choice between body odour of their own mother, of an unknown female of similar reproductive condition and a blank stimulus, weaning-age kittens sniffed the cotton swab with the odour of an unknown female longer. This preference, however, changed when as adults the subjects sniffed the cotton swab with their own mother's odour longer. We conclude that kittens form a long-lasting memory of the body odour of their mother, and by implication, that mothers retain an individual odour signature sufficiently stable across age and changes in their reproductive state to be distinguishable by their adult offspring. What this means in functional or cognitive terms is not yet clear. Does such "recognition" have a specific biological function and a specific cognitive representation? Or is it rather part of a more general phenomenon well known in (human) olfaction of odours that are familiar generally being judged more pleasant, and that might then influence olfactory-guided behaviour in a variety of contexts?
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Affiliation(s)
- Péter Szenczi
- Unidad Psicopatología y Desarrollo, CONACYT - Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de La Fuente Muñiz, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Andrea Urrutia
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Unidad de Posgrado, Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Robyn Hudson
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
| | - Oxána Bánszegi
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico.
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27
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Recognising the key role of individual recognition in social networks. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:1024-1035. [PMID: 34256987 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Many aspects of sociality rely on individuals recognising one another. Understanding how, when, and if individuals recognise others can yield insights into the foundations of social relationships and behaviours. Through synthesising individual recognition research in different sensory and social domains, and doing so across various related social contexts, we propose that a social network perspective can help to uncover how individual recognition may vary across different settings, species, and populations. Specifically, combining individual recognition with social networks has unrecognised potential for determining the level and relative importance of individual recognition complexity. This will provide insights not only on the ecology and evolution of individual recognition itself, but also on social structure, social transmission, and social interactions such as cooperation.
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Abstract
The ability to identify individuals by voice is fundamental for communication. However, little is known about the expectations that infants hold when learning unfamiliar voices. Here, the voice-learning skills of 4- and 8-month-olds (N = 53; 29 girls, 14 boys of various ethnicities) were tested using a preferential-looking task that involved audiovisual stimuli of their mothers and other unfamiliar women. Findings reveal that the expectation that novel voices map on to novel faces emerges between 4 and 8 months of age, and that infants can retain learning of face-voice pairings via nonostensive cues by 8 months of age. This study provides new insights about infants' use of disambiguation and fast mapping in early voice learning.
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29
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Sex differences in offspring discrimination in the biparental California mouse (Peromyscus californicus). J ETHOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-021-00705-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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30
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Walb R, von Fersen L, Meijer T, Hammerschmidt K. Individual Differences in the Vocal Communication of Malayan Tapirs ( Tapirus indicus) Considering Familiarity and Relatedness. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:1026. [PMID: 33916401 PMCID: PMC8065771 DOI: 10.3390/ani11041026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 04/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies in animal communication have shown that many species have individual distinct calls. These individual distinct vocalizations can play an important role in animal communication because they can carry important information about the age, sex, personality, or social role of the signaler. Although we have good knowledge regarding the importance of individual vocalization in social living mammals, it is less clear to what extent solitary living mammals possess individual distinct vocalizations. We recorded and analyzed the vocalizations of 14 captive adult Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) (six females and eight males) to answer this question. We investigated whether familiarity or relatedness had an influence on call similarity. In addition to sex-related differences, we found significant differences between all subjects, comparable to the individual differences found in highly social living species. Surprisingly, kinship appeared to have no influence on call similarity, whereas familiar subjects exhibited significantly higher similarity in their harmonic calls compared to unfamiliar or related subjects. The results support the view that solitary animals could have individual distinct calls, like highly social animals. Therefore, it is likely that non-social factors, like low visibility, could have an influence on call individuality. The increasing knowledge of their behavior will help to protect this endangered species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Walb
- Department of Wildlife Management, University of Applied Sciences Van Hall-Larenstein, Agora 1, 8934 CJ Leeuwarden, The Netherlands;
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany;
| | | | - Theo Meijer
- Department of Wildlife Management, University of Applied Sciences Van Hall-Larenstein, Agora 1, 8934 CJ Leeuwarden, The Netherlands;
| | - Kurt Hammerschmidt
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany;
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31
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Dutour M, Randler C. Mobbing responses of great tits (
Parus major
) do not depend on the number of heterospecific callers. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mylène Dutour
- School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia Crawley Western Australia Australia
| | - Christoph Randler
- Department of Biology Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen Tübingen Germany
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Wierucka K, Henley MD, Mumby HS. Acoustic cues to individuality in wild male adult African savannah elephants ( Loxodonta africana). PeerJ 2021; 9:e10736. [PMID: 33552734 PMCID: PMC7831363 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 12/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to recognize conspecifics plays a pivotal role in animal communication systems. It is especially important for establishing and maintaining associations among individuals of social, long-lived species, such as elephants. While research on female elephant sociality and communication is prevalent, until recently male elephants have been considered far less social than females. This resulted in a dearth of information about their communication and recognition abilities. With new knowledge about the intricacies of the male elephant social structure come questions regarding the communication basis that allows for social bonds to be established and maintained. By analyzing the acoustic parameters of social rumbles recorded over 1.5 years from wild, mature, male African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) we expand current knowledge about the information encoded within these vocalizations and their potential to facilitate individual recognition. We showed that social rumbles are individually distinct and stable over time and therefore provide an acoustic basis for individual recognition. Furthermore, our results revealed that different frequency parameters contribute to individual differences of these vocalizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaja Wierucka
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Michelle D Henley
- Applied Ecosystem and Conservation Research Unit, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.,Elephants Alive, Hoedspruit, South Africa
| | - Hannah S Mumby
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.,Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Centre for African Ecology, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Great Himalayan Leaf-Nosed Bats Produce Different Territorial Calls to Respond to Sympatric Species and Non-Living Objects. Animals (Basel) 2020; 10:ani10112040. [PMID: 33158294 PMCID: PMC7694401 DOI: 10.3390/ani10112040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 11/01/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Many animals produce keep-out signals to keep intruders from entering their territories. Studies have shown that bats produce territorial calls to defend the conspecifics intrusion. However, it remains unknown whether bats can adjust their territorial calls in response to different types of intruders, such as heterospecifics or non-living objects. We simulated the process of territory defense in male great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats toward two sympatric species and four non-living objects to investigate their acoustic responses. Bats displayed different acoustic responses for different types of intruders, suggesting that territorial calls of male great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats may convey emotional state information when the bats respond to invasion by sympatric species or non-living objects. Our results are valuable for understanding animal cognition and interactions among bat species from an acoustic perspective. Abstract Territorial signals are important for reducing the cost of territory defense. Normally, male animals will produce keep-out signals to repel intruders from entering their territory. However, there is currently no evidence that bats can adjust their territorial calls to respond differently to sympatric species or non-living objects. In this study, we simulated the process of territory defense in male Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats (Hipposideros armiger) toward two sympatric species (Hipposideros pratti and Rhinolophus sinicus) and four different non-living objects (a fur specimen of H. armiger, a bat model, a speaker, and a speaker with playback of H. armiger echolocation calls) to investigate their acoustic responses. There were significant differences in the territorial call complexity, syllable rate, and syllable ratio produced by H. armiger under the different experimental conditions. Our results confirmed that bats can adjust their territorial calls to respond to different sympatric species and non-living objects. The results will further our understanding of animal cognition and interactions among bat species from an acoustic perspective.
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Suarez AV, Scharf HM, Reeve HK, Hauber ME. Signal detection, acceptance thresholds and the evolution of animal recognition systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190464. [PMID: 32420845 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- A V Suarez
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - H M Scharf
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - H K Reeve
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - M E Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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