Vocal recognition of pups by mother Mexican free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana

Balcombe, Jonathan

doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(05)80961-3

Cited by 126 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…These curved type social calls function as 'isolation calls' and additionally as 'direction calls' (Fenton, 1985) whereby after foraging, female bats are able to find and recognize their pups among many individuals in the colony. A presupposition for acoustic recognition through individual calls is a very high variability of the calls, which was detected in this type of social call for several bat species (Brown, 1976;Kolb, 1981;Schmidt et al, 1981;Rother & Schmidt, 1985;Thomson et al, 1985;Balcombe, 1990;Jones et al, 1991;Scherrer & Wilkinson, 1993). Variability and the possibility for discrimination rely on the sonagraphic parameters dur, freq, fmax and fmin (Gelfand & McCracken, 1986;Jones et al, 1991;Scherrer & Wilkinson, 1993), as was measured in the present work in M. myotis and in E. serotinus.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

“…Structural differences occur in individual social calls, and bats may thereby mutually recognize one another (e.g. Gelfand & McCracken, 1986;Balcombe, 1990;Jones Hughes & Rayner, 1991;Boughman, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A presupposition for acoustic recognition of individuals is the high variability of their calls. Individual specific frequency structures of isolation calls were recognized in the colonial bats Antrozous pallidus (Brown, 1976), Desmodus rotundus (Schmidt, Joermann & Schmidt, 1981), Myotis myotis (Kolb, 1981), M. lucifugus (Thomson, Fenton & Barclay, 1985), Phyllostomus discolor (Rother & Schmidt, 1985), Plecotus auritus (De Fanis & Jones, 1995), T. brasiliensis mexicana (Balcombe, 1990), Pipistrellus pipistrellus s. l. (Jones et al, 1991) and in Nycticeius humeralis (Scherrer & Wilkinson, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structure and variability of bat social calls: implications for specificity and individual recognition

2003

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Communication sounds or 'social calls' of 16 European bat species (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) were recorded at a range of roost and foraging sites. A comparative analysis of more than 5400 individual calls for general structures and for inter-as well as intraspecific variability resulted in 50 types of calls, which differed by their specific structure and by the calling species. These types could be grouped into four different general types of calls, according to the kind and complexity of their structure, independent of the calling species. Distinct types of calls seem to have similar functions in different bat species. One general type may be used predominantly in female-infant interactions as an isolation or direction call, which serves as mutual recognition. This type of social call was also used in 'tandem flights' of pairs of bats, which might increase individual knowledge of roost sites and foraging success. A second type was used in mate attraction, and a further one in an aggressive context. The fourth one was used by hindered or distressed bats. The group of 'aggressive' calls is least variable, but the complex mating calls and isolation calls are very diverse. Species-specific sound structures were identified, which allowed a computational species distinction. The measured inter-individual variability of social calls should be significant for their functions in individual recognition. So, beyond common features concerning the frequency structure of bat social calls, interspecific differences, as well as the intraspecific variability of details of sonagraphic parameters, should elucidate the specific functions of the calls.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structure and variability of bat social calls: implications for specificity and individual recognition

2003

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“…The Mexican free-tailed bats used in this study, for example, live in caves where they congregate in large colonies that often number in the millions. They use a rich repertoire of communication calls that they use for a wide variety of social interactions (Balcombe, 1990;Balcombe and McCracken, 1992;French and Lollar, 2000). Caves are highly reverberant, and in this environment precedence would facilitate the perception of communication signals from other bats by allowing the bat to localize the first sound received.…”

Section: Precedence Occurs In Many Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reversible Inactivation of the Dorsal Nucleus of the Lateral Lemniscus Reveals Its Role in the Processing of Multiple Sound Sources in the Inferior Colliculus of Bats

2001

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Neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) that are excited by one ear and inhibited by the other [excitatory-inhibitory (EI) neurons] can code interaural intensity disparities (IIDs), the cues animals use to localize high frequencies. Although EI properties are first formed in a lower nucleus and imposed on some IC cells via an excitatory projection, many other EI neurons are formed de novo in the IC. By reversibly inactivating the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (DNLL) in Mexican free-tailed bats with kynurenic acid, we show that the EI properties of many IC cells are formed de novo via an inhibitory projection from the DNLL on the opposite side. We also show that signals excitatory to the IC evoke an inhibition in the opposite DNLL that persists for tens of milliseconds after the signal has ended. During that period, strongly suppressed EI cells in the IC are deprived of inhibition from the DNLL and respond to binaural signals as weakly inhibited or monaural cells. By relieving inhibition at the IC, we show that an initial binaural signal essentially reconfigures the circuit and thereby allows IC cells to respond to trailing binaural signals that were inhibitory when presented alone. Thus, DNLL innervation creates a property in the IC that is not possessed by lower neurons or by collicular EI neurons that are not innervated by the DNLL. That property is a change in responsiveness to binaural signals, a change dependent on the reception of an earlier sound. These features suggest that the circuitry linking the DNLL with the opposite central nucleus of the IC is important for the processing of IIDs that change over time, such as the IIDs generated by moving stimuli or by multiple sound sources that emanate from different regions of space. Key words: GABA; persistent inhibition; precedence effect; inferior colliculus; sound localization; dorsal nucleus of lateral lemniscusThe projections from the vast majority of lower auditory nuclei converge at a common destination in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICc) (for review, see Aitkin, 1986;Oliver and Huerta, 1992). This large convergence of inputs suggests that substantial transformations occur in the ICc; yet the response properties of ICc neurons appear to be similar to those of the lower nuclei from which they receive their innervation. An example is excitatory-inhibitory (EI) neurons in the ICc, neurons that are excited by one ear and inhibited by the other ear. These neurons are sensitive to interaural intensity disparities (IIDs), the cues animals use to localize high-frequency sounds (Erulkar, 1972;Mills, 1972). EI neurons are initially formed in the lateral superior olive (LSO) (Boudreau and Tsuchitani, 1968;Finlayson and Caspary, 1991). They are also the dominant type in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (DNLL), a nucleus the neurons of which are almost exclusively GABAergic (Brugge et al., 1970;Adams and Mugniani, 1984;Covey, 1993; Yang and Pollak, 1994a,b,c;Winer et al., 1995). The DNLL, like the ICc, is one of the principa...

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“…This probably also applies to other domestic and wild species in which mother-young acoustic recognition has been documented [e.g. goats (Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1993;Terrazas et al, 2003); reindeer (Espmark, 1971); red deer (Vankova and Malek, 1997;Torriani et al, 2006); fur seals (Charrier et al, 2001;Charrier et al, 2002a); wolves (Goldman et al, 1995); and bats (Balcombe, 1990;Balcombe and McCracken, 1992)]. …”

Section: Importance Of Nursing For the Display Of Mother-young Vocal mentioning

confidence: 92%

Mother–young vocal communication and acoustic recognition promote preferential nursing in sheep

Sèbe

Aubin

Boué

et al. 2008

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY In mammals with precocial neonates, exclusive maternal care and investment depend on mutual mother–young recognition. In sheep, this is ensured by rapid olfactory recognition of the neonate by its mother. However, recent studies suggest that other processes may participate in preferential maternal care. We investigated the possibility that acoustic communication promotes preferential nursing of the lamb. In the first of two studies, we examined the association between nursing and vocal activity in ewes and their lambs during the first 2 weeks of lactation. As early as 3 and 6 h postpartum, vocal activity was preferentially concentrated before nursing and by day 15 all vocal activity occurred within 2.5 min before nursing. In the second study, we tested the responses of ewes and lambs at 15 days postpartum to the playback of recorded bleats of their partner or from unrelated ewes and lambs. When playback was performed 30 min after a nursing episode, both ewes and lambs responded to bleats of their partner but not to bleats from alien subjects. When playback was performed 5 min after nursing, ewes did not respond to any lamb's bleats, while lambs continued responding to the bleats of their mothers, but significantly less than 30 min after nursing. Nursing therefore appears to play an important role in structuring very early vocal communication between the mother and her neonate. In turn, if the motivational state of the members of the mother–young dyad is adequate, this ensures the display of mutual acoustic recognition and prepares them for preferential nursing before maternal olfactory recognition of the lamb comes into play.

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Vocal recognition of pups by mother Mexican free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana

Cited by 126 publications

References 21 publications

Structure and variability of bat social calls: implications for specificity and individual recognition

Structure and variability of bat social calls: implications for specificity and individual recognition

Reversible Inactivation of the Dorsal Nucleus of the Lateral Lemniscus Reveals Its Role in the Processing of Multiple Sound Sources in the Inferior Colliculus of Bats

Mother–young vocal communication and acoustic recognition promote preferential nursing in sheep

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