Crowd vocal learning induces vocal dialects in bats: Playback of conspecifics shapes fundamental frequency usage by pups

PLoS Biology
Yosef PratYossi Yovel

Abstract

Vocal learning, the substrate of human language acquisition, has rarely been described in other mammals. Often, group-specific vocal dialects in wild populations provide the main evidence for vocal learning. While social learning is often the most plausible explanation for these intergroup differences, it is usually impossible to exclude other driving factors, such as genetic or ecological backgrounds. Here, we show the formation of dialects through social vocal learning in fruit bats under controlled conditions. We raised 3 groups of pups in conditions mimicking their natural roosts. Namely, pups could hear their mothers' vocalizations but were also exposed to a manipulation playback. The vocalizations in the 3 playbacks mainly differed in their fundamental frequency. From the age of approximately 6 months and onwards, the pups demonstrated distinct dialects, where each group was biased towards its playback. We demonstrate the emergence of dialects through social learning in a mammalian model in a tightly controlled environment. Unlike in the extensively studied case of songbirds where specific tutors are imitated, we demonstrate that bats do not only learn their vocalizations directly from their mothers, but that they are act...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 30, 2018·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Caroline CaseyBurney Le Boeuf
Feb 15, 2018·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Noa Truskanov, Yosef Prat
Aug 10, 2019·Perspectives on Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Yosef Prat
Nov 19, 2019·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Andreas Nieder, Richard Mooney
Nov 19, 2019·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Sonja C Vernes, Gerald S Wilkinson
Nov 19, 2019·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Peter L Tyack
Jul 31, 2019·Nature Communications·Daria GenzelMichael M Yartsev
Dec 3, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Mirjam Knörnschild, Ahana A Fernandez
Jun 25, 2019·Cell·Wujie Zhang, Michael M Yartsev
Sep 7, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Ella Z LattenkampUwe Firzlaff
Sep 7, 2021·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Vincent M Janik, Mirjam Knörnschild
Oct 28, 2021·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Grace C SmarshYossi Yovel

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
biopsy

Software Mentioned

Matlab
Cervus
GeneMarker
R

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