Acoustic models of orangutan hand-assisted alarm calls

Boer, Bart de; Wich, Serge A.; Hardus, Madeleine E.; Lameira, Adriano R.

doi:10.1242/jeb.110577

Cited by 18 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Forces propelling cognitive processes would have then compelled vocal progress by association, and vice versa. For instance, with the emergence of theory of mind, individuals would have been able to exploit deceptive calls 34 35 36 , effectively launching new communicative and social dynamics within a population where acoustic deception was previously absent. If vocal and cognitive sophistication developed hand-in-hand over the course of human evolution during the last 10 mya, then, the processes of speech evolution and language evolution could be considered to have been one and the same.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan

Lameira

Hardus

Mielke

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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Vocal fold control was critical to the evolution of spoken language, much as it today allows us to learn vowel systems. It has, however, never been demonstrated directly in a non-human primate, leading to the suggestion that it evolved in the human lineage after divergence from great apes. Here, we provide the first evidence for real-time, dynamic and interactive vocal fold control in a great ape during an imitation “do-as-I-do” game with a human demonstrator. Notably, the orang-utan subject skilfully produced “wookies” – an idiosyncratic vocalization exhibiting a unique spectral profile among the orang-utan vocal repertoire. The subject instantaneously matched human-produced wookies as they were randomly modulated in pitch, adjusting his voice frequency up or down when the human demonstrator did so, readily generating distinct low vs. high frequency sub-variants. These sub-variants were significantly different from spontaneous ones (not produced in matching trials). Results indicate a latent capacity for vocal fold exercise in a great ape (i) in real-time, (ii) up and down the frequency spectrum, (iii) across a register range beyond the species-repertoire and, (iv) in a co-operative turn-taking social setup. Such ancestral capacity likely provided the neuro-behavioural basis of the more fine-tuned vocal fold control that is a human hallmark.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan

Lameira

Hardus

Mielke

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

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“…This may be due, partly, to favourable grounds regarding excluding ecological or genetic causal explanations, as well as issues surrounding the distinction emulation vs. Together with colleagues, we have in fact investigated in detail possibly the single case in primates where this is the case (De Boer et al, 2015;Hardus et al, 2009b;Lameira et al, 2013a). This rare example refers to wild orangutans modifying sound by positioning a hand or by holding detached leaves in front of the lips during vocal production.…”

Section: Why Vocal Traditions Are Differentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bidding evidence for primate vocal learning and the cultural substrates for speech evolution

Lameira

2017

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Speech evolution seems to defy scientific explanation. Progress on this front has been jammed in an entrenched orthodoxy about what great apes can and (mostly) cannot do vocally, an idea epitomized by the Kuypers/Jürgens hypothesis. Findings by great ape researchers paint, however, starkly different and more optimistic landscapes for speech evolution. Over twenty studies qualify as positive evidence for primate vocal (production) learning following accepted terminology. Additionally, the Kuypers/Jürgens hypothesis shows low etymological, empirical, and theoretical soundness. Great apes can produce novel voiced calls and voluntarily control their modification - observations supposedly impossible. Furthermore, no valid pretext justifies dismissing heuristically the production of new voiceless consonant-like calls by great apes. To underscore this point, new evidence is provided for a novel supra-genera voiceless call across all great ape species. Their vocal invention and vocal learning faculties are real and sufficiently potent to, at times, uphold vocal traditions. These data overpower conventional predicaments in speech evolution theory and will help to make new strides explaining why, among hominids, only humans developed speech.

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“…This ability may provide information that is key to responding appropriately. Indeed, it has been shown that nonhuman animals’ “eavesdropping” on another species alarm calls increases opportunities for survival ( Owings and Morton 1998 ; Kitchen et al 2010 ; Fallow et al 2011 ; de Boer et al 2015 ; Magrath et al 2015 ). Advantageous responses to inter-specific calls may occur as a result of acoustic similarity in the signals ( Aubin 1991 ; De Kort and Carel ten 2001 ; Johnson et al 2003 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Humans identify negative (but not positive) arousal in silver fox vocalizations: implications for the adaptive value of interspecific eavesdropping

Filippi¹,

Gogoleva²,

Volodina³

et al. 2017

Current Zoology

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The ability to identify emotional arousal in heterospecific vocalizations may facilitate behaviors that increase survival opportunities. Crucially, this ability may orient inter-species interactions, particularly between humans and other species. Research shows that humans identify emotional arousal in vocalizations across multiple species, such as cats, dogs, and piglets. However, no previous study has addressed humans’ ability to identify emotional arousal in silver foxes. Here, we adopted low- and high-arousal calls emitted by three strains of silver fox—Tame, Aggressive, and Unselected—in response to human approach. Tame and Aggressive foxes are genetically selected for friendly and attacking behaviors toward humans, respectively. Unselected foxes show aggressive and fearful behaviors toward humans. These three strains show similar levels of emotional arousal, but different levels of emotional valence in relation to humans. This emotional information is reflected in the acoustic features of the calls. Our data suggest that humans can identify high-arousal calls of Aggressive and Unselected foxes, but not of Tame foxes. Further analyses revealed that, although within each strain different acoustic parameters affect human accuracy in identifying high-arousal calls, spectral center of gravity, harmonic-to-noise ratio, and F0 best predict humans’ ability to discriminate high-arousal calls across all strains. Furthermore, we identified in spectral center of gravity and F0 the best predictors for humans’ absolute ratings of arousal in each call. Implications for research on the adaptive value of inter-specific eavesdropping are discussed.

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Acoustic models of orangutan hand-assisted alarm calls

Cited by 18 publications

References 21 publications

Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan

Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan

Bidding evidence for primate vocal learning and the cultural substrates for speech evolution

Humans identify negative (but not positive) arousal in silver fox vocalizations: implications for the adaptive value of interspecific eavesdropping

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