Vertebrate Sound Production and Acoustic Communication

Abstract

Vocal learning is usually studied in songbirds and humans, species that can form auditory templates by listening to acoustic models and then learn to vocalize to match the template. Most other species are thought to develop vocalizations without auditory feedback. However, auditory input influences the acoustic structure of vocalizations in a broad distribution of birds and mammals. Vocalizations are defined here as sounds generated by forcing air past vibrating membranes. A vocal motor program may generate vocalizations such as crying or laughter, but auditory feedback may be required for matching precise acoustic features of vocalizations. This chapter discriminates limited vocal learning, which uses auditory input to fine-tune acoustic features of an inherited auditory template, from complex vocal learning, in which novel sounds are learned by matching a learned auditory template. Two or three songbird taxa and four or five mammalian taxa are known for complex vocal learning. A broader range of mammals converge in the acoustic structure of vocalizations when in socially interacting groups, which qualifies as limited vocal learning. All birds and mammals tested use auditory-vocal feedback to adjust their vocalizations to compensate for the effects of noise, and many species modulate their signals as the costs and benefits of communicating vary. This chapter asks whether some auditory-vocal feedback may have provided neural substrates for the evolution of vocal learning. Progress will require more precise definitions of different forms of vocal learning, broad comparative review of their presence and absence, and behavioral and neurobiological investigations into the mechanisms underlying the skills.

Bioacoustics in cognitive research: Applications, considerations, and recommendations

“…Central themes in bioacoustics research include acoustic behaviour and the mechanisms of production, transmission, and reception of acoustic signals (Au & Hastings, 2008;Brown & Riede, 2017;Colafrancesco & Gridi-Papp, 2016;Hedwig, 2014). The scope of bioacoustics research is as broad as it is diverse, with studies spanning multiple spatiotemporal and biological scales and applications ranging from wildlife management and conservation (Laiolo, 2010;Teixeira, Maron, & Rensburg, 2019) to welfare Sales, Milligan, & Khirnykh, 1999; to evolutionary biology (Mutumi, Jacobs, & Winker, 2016;Warwick, Travis, & Lemmon, 2015;Xu & Shaw, 2019).…”

Mapping the vocal circuitry of Alston’s singing mouse with pseudorabies virus

“…Phylogenetic studies reveal that vocalization is common and arose only a few times during vertebrate evolution (Chen & Wiens, 2020). Vertebrate vocalizations function in courtship, aggression, individual identification, parental care and many other contexts (Suthers, Fitch, Fay, & Popper, 2004).…”

Behavioural responses of male ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus, L.) to playbacks of drumming displays

“…Most of the research on avian courtship has focused on vocalizations, but vocalizations are not the only sounds that birds produce during courtship. Non-vocal acoustic signals created by mechanical means through the movement of the beak, wings and/or tail are commonly used in avian courtship displays (Clark, 2016) and play an important role in mate choice. The research on non-vocal acoustic signals used in courtship has primarily focused on how these sounds are produced (Bostwick, 2003;Clark & Prum, 2015), with relatively few experimental studies or studies addressing how these sounds are used in mate choice and male-male competition.…”

“…Thus, the performance of these non-vocal elements is a key component of mate choice in manakins. Similar experimental approaches to other non-vocal sounds produced by birds are, however, lacking despite the recognized importance of non-vocal sounds in mate choice (Clark, 2016).…”