1
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Larter LC, Ryan MJ. Sensory-motor tuning allows generic features of conspecific acoustic scenes to guide rapid, adaptive, call-timing responses in túngara frogs. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240992. [PMID: 39319671 PMCID: PMC11423537 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0992] [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: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 07/09/2024] [Accepted: 08/19/2024] [Indexed: 09/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Male frogs court females from within crowded choruses, selecting for mechanisms allowing them to call at favourable times relative to the calls of rivals and background chorus noise. To accomplish this, males must continuously evaluate the fluctuating acoustic scene generated by their competitors for opportune times to call. Túngara frogs produce highly frequency- and amplitude-modulated calls from within dense choruses. We used similarly frequency- and amplitude-modulated playback tones to investigate the sensory basis of their call-timing decisions. Results revealed that different frequencies present throughout this species' call differed in their degree of call inhibition, and that lower-amplitude tones were less inhibitory. Call-timing decisions were then driven by fluctuations in inhibition arising from underlying frequency- and amplitude-modulation patterns, with tone transitions that produced steeper decreases in inhibition having higher probabilities of triggering calls. Interactions between the varied behavioural sensitivities to different conspecific call frequencies revealed here, and the stereotyped amplitude- and frequency-modulation patterns present in this species' calls, can explain previously surprising patterns observed in túngara frog choruses. This highlights the importance of understanding the specific sensory drivers underpinning conspecific signalling interactions, and reveals how sensory systems can mediate the interplay between signal perception and production to facilitate adaptive communication strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke C Larter
- Integrative Biology Department, University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway , Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Michael J Ryan
- Integrative Biology Department, University of Texas at Austin, 2515 Speedway , Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092 , Balboa, Republic of Panama
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2
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Amichay G, Li L, Nagy M, Couzin ID. Revealing the mechanism and function underlying pairwise temporal coupling in collective motion. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4356. [PMID: 38778073 PMCID: PMC11111445 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48458-z] [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: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Coordinated motion in animal groups has predominantly been studied with a focus on spatial interactions, such as how individuals position and orient themselves relative to one another. Temporal aspects have, by contrast, received much less attention. Here, by studying pairwise interactions in juvenile zebrafish (Danio rerio)-including using immersive volumetric virtual reality (VR) with which we can directly test models of social interactions in situ-we reveal that there exists a rhythmic out-of-phase (i.e., an alternating) temporal coordination dynamic. We find that reciprocal (bi-directional) feedback is both necessary and sufficient to explain this emergent coupling. Beyond a mechanistic understanding, we find, both from VR experiments and analysis of freely swimming pairs, that temporal coordination considerably improves spatial responsiveness, such as to changes in the direction of motion of a partner. Our findings highlight the synergistic role of spatial and temporal coupling in facilitating effective communication between individuals on the move.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy Amichay
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max-Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
- Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
- Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
| | - Liang Li
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max-Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Máté Nagy
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max-Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
- MTA-ELTE Lendület Collective Behaviour Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
- ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Biological Physics, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Iain D Couzin
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78464, Konstanz, Germany.
- Department of Collective Behaviour, Max-Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
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3
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Ma H, Wang Z, Han P, Fan P, Chapman CA, Garber PA, Fan P. Small apes adjust rhythms to facilitate song coordination. Curr Biol 2024; 34:935-945.e3. [PMID: 38266649 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.071] [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: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Song coordination is a universal characteristic of human music. Many animals also produce well-coordinated duets or choruses that resemble human music. However, the mechanism and evolution of song coordination have only recently been studied in animals. Here, we studied the mechanism of song coordination in three closely related species of wild Nomascus gibbons that live in polygynous groups. In each species, song bouts were dominated by male solo sequences (referred to hereafter as male sequence), and females contributed stereotyped great calls to coordinate with males. Considering the function of rhythm in facilitating song coordination in human music and animal vocalizations, we predicted that adult males adjust their song rhythm to facilitate song coordination with females. In support of this prediction, we found that adult males produced significantly more isochronous rhythms with a faster tempo in male sequences that were followed by successful female great calls (a complete sequence with "introductory" and "wa" notes). The difference in isochrony and tempos between successful great call sequences and male sequences was smaller in N. concolor compared with the other two species, which may make it difficult for females to predict a male's precise temporal pattern. Consequently, adult females of N. concolor produced more failed great call (an incomplete sequence with only introductory notes) sequences. We propose that the high degree of rhythm change functions as an unambiguous signal that can be easily perceived by receivers. In this regard, gibbon vocalizations offer an instructive model to understand the origins and evolution of human music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haigang Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China
| | - Zidi Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China
| | - Pu Han
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China
| | - Penglai Fan
- Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species and Environmental Protection (Guangxi Normal University), Ministry of Education, Guilin 541006, Guangxi, China; Endangered Animal Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin 541006, Guangxi, China
| | - Colin A Chapman
- Biology Department, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5, Canada; Wilson Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004, USA; School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa; Shanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi'an 710127, China
| | - Paul A Garber
- Department of Anthropology, Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali 671003, Yunnan, China
| | - Pengfei Fan
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, China.
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4
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Dotov D, Paxton A. Grounding social timing: A commentary on "The evolution of social timing" by Verga et al. (2023). Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:8-10. [PMID: 38039863 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
We are excited about Verga et al.'s [22] exhortation to look beyond humans to understand the purpose, scope, and evolution of social timing. We argue that the field should expand even further. We first point out the enabling role of the spatial environment, which constrains social interaction and in which social interaction is embedded. Second, we argue that a full appreciation of the emergence of social timing must include a focus on physical prerequisites of interactive systems, exemplified by studies of dissipative structures more broadly. By situating interacting systems-whether biological or not-within their shared dynamic environment, we can more clearly and more fully understand social timing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dobromir Dotov
- Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska Omaha, United States of America.
| | - Alexandra Paxton
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, United States of America; Center for the Ecological Study of Perception and Action, University of Connecticut, United States of America.
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5
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Larter LC, Ryan MJ. Female Preferences for More Elaborate Signals Are an Emergent Outcome of Male Chorusing Interactions in Túngara Frogs. Am Nat 2024; 203:92-108. [PMID: 38207138 DOI: 10.1086/727469] [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: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
AbstractIn chorusing species, conspecific interference exerts strong selection on signal form and timing to maximize conspicuousness and attractiveness within the signaling milieu. We investigated how túngara frog calling strategies were influenced by varied social environments and male phenotypes and how calling interactions influenced female preferences. When chorusing, túngara frog calls consist of a whine typically followed by one to three chucks. In experimental choruses we saw that as chorus size increased, calls increasingly had their chucks overlapped by the high-amplitude beginning section of other callers' whines. Playback experiments revealed that such overlap reduced the attractiveness of calls to females but that appending additional chucks mitigated this effect. Thus, more elaborate calls were preferred when calls suffered overlap, although they were not preferred when overlap was absent. In response to increasing risk of overlap in larger choruses, males increased call elaboration. However, males overwhelmingly produced two-chuck calls in even the largest choruses, despite our results suggesting that additional chucks would more effectively safeguard calls. Furthermore, aspects of male phenotypes predicted to limit call elaboration had negligible or uncertain effects, suggesting that other constraints are operating. These results highlight how complex interrelations among signal form, signaling interactions, and the social environment shape the evolution of communication in social species.
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6
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Hensley NM, Rivers TJ, Gerrish GA, Saha R, Oakley TH. Collective synchrony of mating signals modulated by ecological cues and social signals in bioluminescent sea fireflies. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20232311. [PMID: 38018106 PMCID: PMC10685132 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2311] [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: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals often employ simple rules that can emergently synchronize behaviour. Some collective behaviours are intuitively beneficial, but others like mate signalling in leks occur across taxa despite theoretical individual costs. Whether disparate instances of synchronous signalling are similarly organized is unknown, largely due to challenges observing many individuals simultaneously. Recording field collectives and ex situ playback experiments, we describe principles of synchronous bioluminescent signals produced by marine ostracods (Crustacea; Luxorina) that seem behaviorally convergent with terrestrial fireflies, and with whom they last shared a common ancestor over 500 Mya. Like synchronous fireflies, groups of signalling males use visual cues (intensity and duration of light) to decide when to signal. Individual ostracods also modulate their signal based on the distance to nearest neighbours. During peak darkness, luminescent 'waves' of synchronous displays emerge and ripple across the sea floor approximately every 60 s, but such periodicity decays within and between nights after the full moon. Our data reveal these bioluminescent aggregations are sensitive to both ecological and social light sources. Because the function of collective signals is difficult to dissect, evolutionary convergence, like in the synchronous visual displays of diverse arthropods, provides natural replicates to understand the generalities that produce emergent group behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholai M. Hensley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
| | - Trevor J. Rivers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66405, USA
| | - Gretchen A. Gerrish
- Center for Limnology, Trout Lake Station, University of Wisconsin, Boulder Junction, Madison, WI 54512, USA
| | - Raj Saha
- Roux Institute, Northeastern University, Portland, ME 04101, USA
| | - Todd H. Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA
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7
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Keller PE, Lee J, König R, Novembre G. Sex-related communicative functions of voice spectral energy in human chorusing. Biol Lett 2023; 19:20230326. [PMID: 37935372 PMCID: PMC10645082 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0326] [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: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Music is a human communicative art whose evolutionary origins may lie in capacities that support cooperation and/or competition. A mixed account favouring simultaneous cooperation and competition draws on analogous interactive displays produced by collectively signalling non-human animals (e.g. crickets and frogs). In these displays, rhythmically coordinated calls serve as a beacon whereby groups of males 'cooperatively' attract potential female mates, while the likelihood of each male competitively attracting an actual mate depends on the precedence of his signal. Human behaviour consistent with the mixed account was previously observed in a renowned boys choir, where the basses-the oldest boys with the deepest voices-boosted their acoustic prominence by increasing energy in a high-frequency band of the vocal spectrum when girls were in an otherwise male audience. The current study tested female and male sensitivity and preferences for this subtle vocal modulation in online listening tasks. Results indicate that while female and male listeners are similarly sensitive to enhanced high-spectral energy elicited by the presence of girls in the audience, only female listeners exhibit a reliable preference for it. Findings suggest that human chorusing is a flexible form of social communicative behaviour that allows simultaneous group cohesion and sexually motivated competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter E. Keller
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith South, Australia
| | - Jennifer Lee
- Queensland Aphasia Research Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | | | - Giacomo Novembre
- Neuroscience of Perception and Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
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8
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Greenfield MD, Merker B. Coordinated rhythms in animal species, including humans: Entrainment from bushcricket chorusing to the philharmonic orchestra. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 153:105382. [PMID: 37673282 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105382] [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: 04/21/2023] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Coordinated group displays featuring precise entrainment of rhythmic behavior between neighbors occur not only in human music, dance and drill, but in the acoustic or optical signaling of a number of species of arthropods and anurans. In this review we describe the mechanisms of phase resetting and phase and tempo adjustments that allow the periodic output of signaling individuals to be aligned in synchronized rhythmic group displays. These mechanisms are well described in some of the synchronizing arthropod species, in which conspecific signals reset an individual's endogenous output oscillators in such a way that the joint rhythmic signals are locked in phase. Some of these species are capable of mutually adjusting both the phase and tempo of their rhythmic signaling, thereby achieving what is called perfect synchrony, a capacity which otherwise is found only in humans. We discuss this disjoint phylogenetic distribution of inter-individual rhythmic entrainment in the context of the functions such entrainment might perform in the various species concerned, and the adaptive circumstances in which it might evolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Greenfield
- ENES Bioacoustics Research Lab, CRNL, University of Saint-Etienne, CNRS, Inserm, Saint-Etienne, France; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
| | - Bjorn Merker
- Independent Scholar, SE-29194 Kristianstad, Sweden
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9
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Anichini M, de Reus K, Hersh TA, Valente D, Salazar-Casals A, Berry C, Keller PE, Ravignani A. Measuring rhythms of vocal interactions: a proof of principle in harbour seal pups. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210477. [PMID: 36871583 PMCID: PMC9985970 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhythmic patterns in interactive contexts characterize human behaviours such as conversational turn-taking. These timed patterns are also present in other animals, and often described as rhythm. Understanding fine-grained temporal adjustments in interaction requires complementary quantitative methodologies. Here, we showcase how vocal interactive rhythmicity in a non-human animal can be quantified using a multi-method approach. We record vocal interactions in harbour seal pups (Phoca vitulina) under controlled conditions. We analyse these data by combining analytical approaches, namely categorical rhythm analysis, circular statistics and time series analyses. We test whether pups' vocal rhythmicity varies across behavioural contexts depending on the absence or presence of a calling partner. Four research questions illustrate which analytical approaches are complementary versus orthogonal. For our data, circular statistics and categorical rhythms suggest that a calling partner affects a pup's call timing. Granger causality suggests that pups predictively adjust their call timing when interacting with a real partner. Lastly, the ADaptation and Anticipation Model estimates statistical parameters for a potential mechanism of temporal adaptation and anticipation. Our analytical complementary approach constitutes a proof of concept; it shows feasibility in applying typically unrelated techniques to seals to quantify vocal rhythmic interactivity across behavioural contexts. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Face2face: advancing the science of social interaction'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianna Anichini
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology N-6025 Ålesund, Norway.,Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Institute for Advanced Study, 'Brain' Research Area, 27753 Delmenhorst, Germany.,Division Animal Physiology and Behaviour, Department for Neuroscience, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Koen de Reus
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.,Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Taylor A Hersh
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Daria Valente
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, 10123 Turin, Italy
| | - Anna Salazar-Casals
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Research Department, Sealcentre Pieterburen, 9968 AG Pieterburen, The Netherlands
| | - Caroline Berry
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Peter E Keller
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.,Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Andrea Ravignani
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
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10
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Demartsev V, Haddas-Sasson M, Ilany A, Koren L, Geffen E. Male rock hyraxes that maintain an isochronous song rhythm achieve higher reproductive success. J Anim Ecol 2022. [PMID: 36097377 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rhythmic stability (nonrandom temporal structure) is required for many neural and physiological functions, whereas rhythmic irregularities can indicate genetic or developmental deficiencies. Therefore, rhythmic courtship or contest signals are widespread in nature as honest advertisement displays. Examination of bird songs revealed the pervasiveness of categorical rhythmic patterns that can be described as small integer ratios between sequential inter-call intervals. As similar rhythmic profiles are prevalent in human music, it was suggested that a shared functionality could drive both animal songs and human musical rhythms, facilitating synchrony between signallers and enabling easy identification of performance errors. Here we examined whether the rhythmic structure and the rhythmic stability of vocal displays are related to reproductive success in male rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), which presents an unusual case of a terrestrial singing mammal. We combined long-term parentage analysis of 13 male hyraxes (22 male/years) with an analysis of an audio library of 105 hyrax songs. Male annual reproductive success was determined by the number of offspring that survived to the age of 1 year. The frequency of singing events was used to determine the seasonal singing effort for each male. Songs were analysed for rhythmic structure, focusing on the presence of categorical rhythms and the contribution of rhythmic stability to annual reproductive success. We found that male hyraxes that sing more frequently tend to have more surviving offspring and that the rhythmic profile of hyrax songs is predominantly isochronous with sequential vocal element pairs nearly equally spaced. The ratio of isochronous vocal element transitions (on-integer) to element transitions that deviate from an isochronous pattern (off-integer) in hyrax songs is positively correlated with male reproductive success. Our findings support the notion that isochronous rhythmic stability can serve as an indication of quality in sexually selected signals and is not necessarily driven by the need for multiple caller synchronization. The relative scarcity of nonisochronous rhythmic categories in individually performed hyrax songs raises the question of whether such rhythmic categories could be a product of collective, coordinated signalling, while being selected against in individual performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vlad Demartsev
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Plank Institute for Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Amiyaal Ilany
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Lee Koren
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Eli Geffen
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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11
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Bouwer FL, Nityananda V, Rouse AA, ten Cate C. Rhythmic abilities in humans and non-human animals: a review and recommendations from a methodological perspective. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200335. [PMID: 34420380 PMCID: PMC8380979 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhythmic behaviour is ubiquitous in both human and non-human animals, but it is unclear whether the cognitive mechanisms underlying the specific rhythmic behaviours observed in different species are related. Laboratory experiments combined with highly controlled stimuli and tasks can be very effective in probing the cognitive architecture underlying rhythmic abilities. Rhythmic abilities have been examined in the laboratory with explicit and implicit perception tasks, and with production tasks, such as sensorimotor synchronization, with stimuli ranging from isochronous sequences of artificial sounds to human music. Here, we provide an overview of experimental findings on rhythmic abilities in human and non-human animals, while critically considering the wide variety of paradigms used. We identify several gaps in what is known about rhythmic abilities. Many bird species have been tested on rhythm perception, but research on rhythm production abilities in the same birds is lacking. By contrast, research in mammals has primarily focused on rhythm production rather than perception. Many experiments also do not differentiate between possible components of rhythmic abilities, such as processing of single temporal intervals, rhythmic patterns, a regular beat or hierarchical metrical structures. For future research, we suggest a careful choice of paradigm to aid cross-species comparisons, and a critical consideration of the multifaceted abilities that underlie rhythmic behaviour. This article is part of the theme issue 'Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fleur L. Bouwer
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94242, 1090 CE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, PO Box 15900, 1001 NK Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Vivek Nityananda
- Biosciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK
| | - Andrew A. Rouse
- Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Carel ten Cate
- Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden University, PO Box 9505, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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12
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Greenfield MD, Honing H, Kotz SA, Ravignani A. Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200324. [PMID: 34420379 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
This theme issue assembles current studies that ask how and why precise synchronization and related forms of rhythm interaction are expressed in a wide range of behaviour. The studies cover human activity, with an emphasis on music, and social behaviour, reproduction and communication in non-human animals. In most cases, the temporally aligned rhythms have short-from several seconds down to a fraction of a second-periods and are regulated by central nervous system pacemakers, but interactions involving rhythms that are 24 h or longer and originate in biological clocks also occur. Across this spectrum of activities, species and time scales, empirical work and modelling suggest that synchrony arises from a limited number of coupled-oscillator mechanisms with which individuals mutually entrain. Phylogenetic distribution of these common mechanisms points towards convergent evolution. Studies of animal communication indicate that many synchronous interactions between the signals of neighbouring individuals are specifically favoured by selection. However, synchronous displays are often emergent properties of entrainment between signalling individuals, and in some situations, the very signallers who produce a display might not gain any benefit from the collective timing of their production. This article is part of the theme issue 'Synchrony and rhythm interaction: from the brain to behavioural ecology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Greenfield
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.,Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/Neuro-PSI, CNRS UMR 9197, Universtiy Lyon/Saint-Etienne, 42023 Saint Etienne, France
| | - Henkjan Honing
- Music Cognition Group (MCG), Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1090 GE, The Netherlands
| | - Sonja A Kotz
- Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Universiteitssingel 40, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Andrea Ravignani
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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