Efficiency of coding in macaque vocal communication.

Biology Letters
Stuart SempleGovindasamy Agoramoorthy

Abstract

A key characteristic of human language efficiency is that more frequently used words tend to be shorter in length-the 'law of brevity'. To date, no test of this relationship between frequency of use and length has been carried out on non-human animal vocal communication. We show here that the vocal repertoire of the Formosan macaque (Macaca cyclopis) conforms to the pattern predicted by the law of brevity, with an inverse relationship found between call duration and rate of utterance. This finding provides evidence for coding efficiency in the vocal communication system of this species, and indicates commonality in the basic structure of the coding system between human language and vocal communication in this non-human primate.

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Citations

Feb 5, 2013·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Bo LuoJiang Feng
Jun 25, 2010·Biology Letters·Bruna M BezerraGareth Jones
Jul 31, 2013·Cognitive Science·Ramon Ferrer-i-CanchoStuart Semple
Apr 20, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Morgan L GustisonThore J Bergman
Jan 24, 2012·Environmental Science & Technology·Govindasamy Agoramoorthy
Apr 10, 2019·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Raphaela HeesenStuart Semple
Feb 6, 2020·Biology Letters·Livio FavaroDavid Reby
Jul 7, 2020·Animal Cognition·Melanie HenschelJuliane Bräuer
Dec 20, 2019·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Jacques PrieurAlban Lemasson
Jan 5, 2021·Royal Society Open Science·Dena J Clink, Allison R Lau
Mar 9, 2021·Animal Cognition·Daria ValenteMarco Gamba

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