Perspectives on Antiphonal Calling, Duetting and Counter-Singing in Non-primate Mammals: An Overview With Notes on the Coordinated Vocalizations of Bamboo Rats (Dactylomys spp., Rodentia: Echimyidae)

Abstract

Temporally coordinated interactive vocalizations are important means of communication between individuals in various animal taxa. In mammals, interactive calling and singing can be highly synchronized to create either overlapping or antiphonal duets while in others, competitors antagonistically vocalize, engaging in counter-singing. Among non-primate mammals these vocalizations are considered rare and poorly understood. We provide an overview of antiphonal calling, duetting and counter-singing in non-primate mammals. Many of these coordinated vocalizations play a role in social interactions and allow mammals to convey information to other members of the social unit in visually inaccessible environments. South American Bamboo rats Dactylomys spp. are arboreal bamboo specialists found in dense bamboo thickets in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia. These nocturnal rodents are rarely seen but can be easily heard because of their loud and distinctive staccato vocalizations. We provide some evidence that Bamboo rats engage in duetting, and as such they provide another case of a mammalian species, in which to investigate temporally coordinated interactive singing. We urge researchers to work toward common definitions of temporally coordinated vocalizations and to search for more mammals that utilize such vocalizations.

Evolution of human language: duetting as part of prosociality and cognition

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Nocturnal selective pressures on the evolution of human musicality as a missing piece of the adaptationist puzzle

“…Duetting songbirds also tend to be monogamous ( Geissmann, 2000 ). The evolution of elaborated songs across species, such as baleen whales, seals, songbirds, and hummingbirds, is also related to small, less complex social groups interacting over large distances beyond visual reach ( Verpooten, 2021 ; Verpooten and Eens, 2021 ; Vanderhoff and Bernal, 2022 ). Thus, it is possible that, before the habitual use of fire and its consequent increase in social complexity ( Foley and Gamble, 2009 ), early Homo was already prone to singing ( cf.…”

Convergent and divergent neural circuit architectures that support acoustic communication

“…Songs are acoustically indistinguishable, although male songs are longer (Banerjee et al, 2019 ). Pairs of males alternate their songs precisely: “turn taking” [see Vanderhoff and Bernal Hoverud ( 2022 ) for a discussion of duetting, turn taking, and antiphony]. When one male is introduced into the cage of another, vocalization is stimulated in both, but always ends with the more variable song of the introduced male (Banerjee et al, 2019 ).…”