An Overview of the Barbary Macaque, Macaca sylvanus, Vocal Repertoire

Fischer, Julia; Hammerschmidt, Kurt

doi:10.1159/000060417

Cited by 45 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…sylvanus fossils in Europe were found alongside a wide range of potential carnivoran predators, some of which, like the sabre-toothed cats, have no modern equivalent. Modern Barbary macaques in the wild and under semi-free-ranging conditions produce alarm calls to warn against the approach of eagles [Mehlman, 1984;Fooden, 2007], snakes and domestic dogs [Fischer and Hammerschmidt, 2002], although calls do not always result in escape behaviours [Fischer and Hammerschmidt, 2001]. The presence of alarm calls could indicate predation in the past significant enough to promote their initial evolution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolutionary History and Palaeo-Ecology of Primate Predation: Macaca sylvanus from Plio-Pleistocene Europe as a Case Study

Meloro

Elton²

2013

IJFP

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In this article we briefly review primate interactions with predators throughout their evolutionary history. Like today, predators of past primates were taxonomically diverse, including crocodilians, aquatic mammals, hyaenids, raptors and other primates. There is strong evidence for felid predation of extinct primates, with most work undertaken on the African Plio-Pleistocene fossil record. Felid predation of Plio-Pleistocene primates from other areas, including Europe, is much less well understood, so we explored co-occurrence and potential interaction between carnivorans (with particular reference to felids) and Macaca sylvanus, which was widespread and present in Europe from the late Miocene to the late Pleistocene. Over its tenure in the fossil record, M. sylvanus co-occurred with a diverse array of carnivorans, including canids and hyaenids, but medium-sized felids probably posed the most significant predation risk. It is likely, however, that human predation was a major factor contributing to macaque extinction in Europe.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolutionary History and Palaeo-Ecology of Primate Predation: Macaca sylvanus from Plio-Pleistocene Europe as a Case Study

Meloro

Elton²

2013

IJFP

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“…Fischer and Hammerschmidt 2002), and converging data indicates that sequential structure in these call bouts is identified and used by perceivers (Bergman et al 2003;Seyfarth et al 2005). There has been increasing recent interest in the sequencing and syntactic abilities of nonhuman primates.…”

Section: Semantics: Call Production and Perception In Nonhumansmentioning

confidence: 91%

The Evolution of Language: A Comparative Review

2005

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For many years the evolution of language has been seen as a disreputable topic, mired in fanciful ''just so stories'' about language origins. However, in the last decade a new synthesis of modern linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has begun to make important contributions to our understanding of the biology and evolution of language. I review some of this recent progress, focusing on the value of the comparative method, which uses data from animal species to draw inferences about language evolution. Discussing speech first, I show how data concerning a wide variety of species, from monkeys to birds, can increase our understanding of the anatomical and neural mechanisms underlying human spoken language, and how bird and whale song provide insights into the ultimate evolutionary function of language. I discuss the ''descended larynx'' of humans, a peculiar adaptation for speech that has received much attention in the past, which despite earlier claims is not uniquely human. Then I will turn to the neural mechanisms underlying spoken language, pointing out the difficulties animals apparently experience in perceiving hierarchical structure in sounds, and stressing the importance of vocal imitation in the evolution of a spoken language. Turning to ultimate function, I suggest that communication among kin (especially between parents and offspring) played a crucial but neglected role in driving language evolution. Finally, I briefly discuss phylogeny, discussing hypotheses that offer plausible routes to human language from a non-linguistic chimp-like ancestor. I conclude that comparative data from living animals will be key to developing a richer, more interdisciplinary understanding of our most distinctively human trait: language.

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“…For example, researchers have described sex differences in acoustic signals in many nonhuman primates (hereafter primates) in terms of context (Green 1981;Koffi Bene and Zuberbüler 2009), repertoire (Fischer and Hammerschmidt 2002), acoustic structure (Benz et al 1990;Ey et al 2007a;Heymann 1987;Masataka 1987;Norcross and Newman 1993;Norcross et al 1999;Patel and Owren 2007;Rendall et al 2004;Robinson 1979;Seyfarth et al 1980), or patterns of calling (Green 1981;Locke and Hauser 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in the Song of Indri indri

et al. 2010

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In some primate species, males and females within a social group emit loud calls in a coordinated manner or chorus. Indri indri emits a very conspicuous loud call that elicits the loud calls of neighboring groups. Previous investigations have hypothesized that the main functions of the indri chorus are related to territorial announcement, intergroup avoidance, and group cohesion. We investigated sex differences in indri song. We recorded and analysed songs given by 10 different groups over 160 d. Overall singing duration did not vary between the sexes. However, males emitted significantly fewer but longer notes. Adult males and females of each group participated in the song with sex-specific repertoires. Females had a song repertoire of 8 note types; males shared all of their 6 notes with females. Apart from the initial roars, in all note types shared by both sexes, male notes were significantly longer than female ones, whereas variations in frequency parameters differed according to the note type. These findings suggest that indri song may provide cues to conspecifics, such as group size and sex composition, which could influence interactions between groups.

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An Overview of the Barbary Macaque, Macaca sylvanus, Vocal Repertoire

Cited by 45 publications

References 59 publications

The Evolutionary History and Palaeo-Ecology of Primate Predation: Macaca sylvanus from Plio-Pleistocene Europe as a Case Study

The Evolutionary History and Palaeo-Ecology of Primate Predation: Macaca sylvanus from Plio-Pleistocene Europe as a Case Study

The Evolution of Language: A Comparative Review

Sex Differences in the Song of Indri indri

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