Vocal learning in a social mammal: Demonstrated by isolation and playback experiments in bats

Prat, Yosef; Taub, Mor; Yovel, Yossi

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500019

Cited by 98 publications

(103 citation statements)

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“…36), with 6 females, 5 pups, and 1 male in cage 1, and 4 females, 4 pups, 1 male, and 1 young (of unknown sex) in cage 2. The cages were continuously monitored for 75 days, with IR-sensitive cameras and omnidirectional electret ultrasound microphones (Avisoft-Bioacoustics Knowles FG-O; 2 microphones in each cage).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we used the extremely social and vocal Egyptian fruit bat ( Rousettus aegyptiacus ) to elucidate some of the huge potential of information capacity in a mammalian vocal communication system. Egyptian fruit bats are social mammals, that aggregate in groups of dozens to thousands of individuals, can live to the age of at least 25 years35, and are capable of vocal learning36. We housed groups of bats in acoustically isolated chambers and continuously monitored them with video cameras and microphones around-the-clock.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Everyday bat vocalizations contain information about emitter, addressee, context, and behavior

Prat

Taub

Yovel

2016

Sci Rep

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Animal vocal communication is often diverse and structured. Yet, the information concealed in animal vocalizations remains elusive. Several studies have shown that animal calls convey information about their emitter and the context. Often, these studies focus on specific types of calls, as it is rarely possible to probe an entire vocal repertoire at once. In this study, we continuously monitored Egyptian fruit bats for months, recording audio and video around-the-clock. We analyzed almost 15,000 vocalizations, which accompanied the everyday interactions of the bats, and were all directed toward specific individuals, rather than broadcast. We found that bat vocalizations carry ample information about the identity of the emitter, the context of the call, the behavioral response to the call, and even the call's addressee. Our results underline the importance of studying the mundane, pairwise, directed, vocal interactions of animals.Many animal species use vocal communication 1 , but the chaotic nature of the acoustics of these vocalizations often complicates their cataloging into clearly divided types and contexts 2 . Understanding the encapsulated information in animal vocalizations is central to the study of sociality, communication, and language evolution. Yet, in the research of nonhuman animals, the purpose and meaning of the vocal message often remain obscure. Researchers of animal communication, seeking homology to semantics, may relate behavioral observations to acoustic measurements, and thus reveal some of the information content of vocal expressions. Indeed, several studies have described cases of vocalizations as functionally referential, i.e. signals which are both specific to a certain context and elicit an appropriate response by a receiver 3-5 . However, the requisite for a specific response might be too strict, ignoring many other information bearing vocalizations. Many vocalizations evoke a response according to their context or their receiver's internal state 6 , and not solely based on their acoustics. Thus, the information capacity of animal vocalizations should still be explored, even when interpreting the behavioral responses is not straightforward 7 . Identifying context specific calls can be a first step toward the recovering of meaning in animal communication. For example, many studies indicated the existence of context specific vocalizations in various taxa (e.g., birds 8-10 , cetaceans 11,12 , dogs 13 , bats 14,15 , and nonhuman primates 16 ). Notably, the distinctive alarm calls of some species are acoustically unique to different types of danger [17][18][19] . Other studies have exemplified the ability to distinguish between emitting individuals based on acoustic features of their vocalizations 20-31 , while several studies, mainly in primates, revealed subtle context-dependent acoustic modifications of calls in everyday behaviors, such as food-related behaviors 32 , agonistic interactions 33 , and long-distance calls 29 .Bats are social mammals that often roost in very large colonies,...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Everyday bat vocalizations contain information about emitter, addressee, context, and behavior

Prat

Taub

Yovel

2016

Sci Rep

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“…Bats have recently caught the attention of the field due to their potential for vocal learning, sophisticated social structure and diversity (Knörnschild, 2014). Two species in particular have recently shown promise for vocal learning; Phyllostomus discolor (Esser, 1994) and Rousettus aegypticaus (Prat et al, 2015). Studying the genomes of these species provides a great opportunity to pinpoint genetic loci and major evolutionary events that may be relevant for the emergence of vocal learning in mammals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequencing bat genomes to shed light on language evolution

Lavrichenko¹,

Vernes²

2018

Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Evolution of Language (Evolang12)

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“…In 2015, researchers at Tel Aviv University reported that Egyptian fruit bat pups isolated from their parents are slow to develop mature, adult-like vocalizations, suggesting the babies rely on some form of learning. In fact, when isolated pups were exposed to recordings of select low-frequency adult calls, the pups developed a bias toward low-frequency vocalizations (13).…”

Section: From the Shadowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Singing in the brain

Shen¹

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Vocal learning in a social mammal: Demonstrated by isolation and playback experiments in bats

Abstract: Isolation and playback experiments demonstrate vocal learning in bats and reveal the learning mechanism by continuous recordings from birth.

Cited by 98 publications

References 23 publications

Everyday bat vocalizations contain information about emitter, addressee, context, and behavior

Everyday bat vocalizations contain information about emitter, addressee, context, and behavior

Sequencing bat genomes to shed light on language evolution

Singing in the brain

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