Ecological Sources of Selection on Avian Sounds

Morton, Eugene S.

doi:10.1086/282971

Cited by 1,413 publications

(1,103 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…It is also supported by patterns in a much larger sample of the world's languages, including patterns within language families and among language isolates. Like the communication systems of avian species (60,61), it appears that human languages are environmentally adaptive. This is not necessarily surprising given the general adaptability of human behavior (62,63) and human biology (64,65) to cold climes and given the existence of other ecological effects on nonconscious patterns in human behavior (66).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate, vocal folds, and tonal languages: Connecting the physiological and geographic dots

Everett

Blasí

Roberts

2015

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

144

110

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We summarize a number of findings in laryngology demonstrating that perturbations of phonation, including increased jitter and shimmer, are associated with desiccated ambient air. We predict that, given the relative imprecision of vocal fold vibration in desiccated versus humid contexts, arid and cold ecologies should be less amenable, when contrasted to warm and humid ecologies, to the development of languages with phonemic tone, especially complex tone. This prediction is supported by data from two large independently coded databases representing 3,700+ languages. Languages with complex tonality have generally not developed in very cold or otherwise desiccated climates, in accordance with the physiologically based predictions. The predicted global geographic-linguistic association is shown to operate within continents, within major language families, and across language isolates. Our results offer evidence that human sound systems are influenced by environmental factors.climate | language | adaptation | tone A standard assumption in linguistics is that sound systems are immune to ecological effects (1). This presumption has been called into question by several recent studies providing evidence for a correlation between aspects of phonology (such as sonority) and climatic and geographic factors (such as temperature, plant cover, or terrain), as well as behaviors associated with such factors (2-9). Most recently, a correlation was uncovered between ejective sounds and regions of high elevation in a sample of nearly 600 languages (10). Although two plausible physiological motivations are offered in ref. 10 for the correlation between ejective use and reduced ambient air pressure, those explanations have yet to be supported by experimental evidence. The uncovered patterns could be epiphenomenal, and in general, the cross-linguistic statistical studies in question have not been buttressed by experimental support (11).In this study, we offer evidence for a negative correlation between linguistic tone and characteristic rates of desiccation in ambient air. In contradistinction to the aforementioned studies offering geographic/phonetic correlations, however, we suggest this correlation is predicted by extensive experimental research on the properties of the human larynx. This research, which has been conducted by numerous laryngologists over the last decade and a half, has not been previously tied to the distribution of the world's tonal languages. We submit that the research predicts that the relatively precise manipulation of the vocal folds associated with tone, especially complex tone, should be more difficult to achieve in arid climates-particularly very cold ones-when contrasted to warmer and more humid climates. We offer global, continental, and intralinguistic-family data consistent with the expected geographic/tonemic association. Our results cannot facilely be ascribed to well-known phylogenetic and areal relatedness. We conclude by suggesting that the most reasonable interpretation of the data is that the a...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate, vocal folds, and tonal languages: Connecting the physiological and geographic dots

Everett

Blasí

Roberts

2015

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

144

110

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“…the acoustic adaptation hypothesis [57]), then we would expect them to be retained into adulthood. Because they are not present in older marmots, our results suggest that we should look for something unique in the maternal environment and with a reversible effect as a putative mechanism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontogenetic variation of heritability and maternal effects in yellow-bellied marmot alarm calls

Blumstein¹,

Nguyen

Martin

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Individuals of many species produce distinctive vocalizations that may relay potential information about the signaller. The alarm calls of some species have been reported to be individually specific, and this distinctiveness may allow individuals to access the reliability or kinship of callers. While not much is known generally about the heritability of mammalian vocalizations, if alarm calls were individually distinctive to permit kinship assessment, then call structure should be heritable. Here, we show conclusively for the first time that alarm call structure is heritable. We studied yellow-bellied marmots ( Marmota flaviventris ) and made nine quantitative measurements of their alarm calls. With a known genealogy, we used the animal model (a statistical technique) to estimate alarm call heritability. In juveniles, only one of the measured variables had heritability significantly different from zero; however, most variables had significant maternal environmental effects. By contrast, yearlings and adults had no significant maternal environmental effects, but the heritability of nearly all measured variables was significantly different from zero. Some, but not all of these heritable effects were significantly different across age classes. The presence of significantly non-zero maternal environmental effects in juveniles could reflect the impact of maternal environmental stresses on call structure. Regardless of this mechanism, maternal environmental effects could permit kinship recognition in juveniles. In older animals, the substantial genetic basis of alarm call structure suggests that calls could be used to assess kinship and, paradoxically, might also suggest a role of learning in call structure.

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“…Linskens et al 1976;Martens 1980;Endler 1992;Forrest 1994;Brown & Handford 1996. For example, lower frequencies transmit better in dense vegetation, which is associated with a lower average frequency used by forest species than species found in open habitats (Chappuis 1971;Morton 1975;Ryan & Brenowitz 1985). In addition, reflective layers in dense vegetation lead to reverberations, and, depending on the acoustic structure of a song, this may be detrimental (e.g.…”

Section: The Role Of Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bird song, ecology and speciation

Slabbekoorn

Smith

2002

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B

475

413

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The study of bird song dialects was once considered the most promising approach for investigating the role of behaviour in reproductive divergence and speciation. However, after a series of studies yielding conflicting results, research in the field slowed significantly. Recent findings, on how ecological factors may lead to divergence in both song and morphology, necessitate a re-examination. We focus primarily on species with learned song, examine conflicting results in the literature and propose some potential new directions for future studies. We believe an integrative approach, including an examination of the role of ecology in divergent selection, is essential for gaining insight into the role of song in the evolution of assortative mating. Habitat-dependent selection on both song and fitness-related characteristics can lead to parallel divergence in these traits. Song may, therefore, provide females with acoustic cues to find males that are most fit for a particular habitat. In analysing the role of song learning in reproductive divergence, we focus on post-dispersal plasticity in a conceptual framework. We argue that song learning may initially constrain reproductive divergence, while in the later stages of population divergence it may promote speciation.

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Ecological Sources of Selection on Avian Sounds

Cited by 1,413 publications

References 8 publications

Climate, vocal folds, and tonal languages: Connecting the physiological and geographic dots

Climate, vocal folds, and tonal languages: Connecting the physiological and geographic dots

Ontogenetic variation of heritability and maternal effects in yellow-bellied marmot alarm calls

Bird song, ecology and speciation

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