Social context evokes rapid changes in bat song syntax

Bohn, Kirsten M.; Smarsh, Grace C.; Smotherman, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.04.002

Cited by 52 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Zuberbühler, 2008, 2012;Ghazanfar et al, 2001;Jansen et al, 2012;Bohn et al, 2013). Unfortunately, spectrographic analysis is not conclusive on whether two different spectrographic patterns are based on different laryngeal motor patterns or whether they are produced during a single or two subsequent breaths.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rats concatenate 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls into a single utterance

Hernández

Sabin

Riede

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Traditionally, the ultrasonic vocal repertoire of rats is differentiated into 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls, two categories that contain multiple different call types. Although both categories have different functions, they are sometimes produced in the same behavioral context. Here, we investigated the peripheral mechanisms that generate sequences of calls from both categories. Male rats, either sexually experienced or naïve, were exposed to an estrous female. The majority of sexually naïve male rats produced 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls on their first encounter with a female. We recorded subglottal pressure and electromyographic activity of laryngeal muscles and found that male rats sometimes concatenate long 22 kHz calls and 50 kHz trill calls into an utterance produced during a single breath. The qualitatively different laryngeal motor patterns for both call types were produced serially during the same breathing cycle. The finding demonstrates flexibility in the laryngeal-respiratory coordination during ultrasonic vocal production, which has not been previously documented physiologically in non-human mammals. Since only naïve males produced the 22 kHz-trills, it is possible that the production is experience dependent.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rats concatenate 22 kHz and 50 kHz calls into a single utterance

Hernández

Sabin

Riede

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Like the sac-winged bats, the free-tailed bat sings mostly at sunset and sunrise, a pattern that arises because songs are evoked by hearing the echolocation pulses of bats entering and exiting neighboring roosts (Bohn et al 2013). Male T. brasiliensis sit poised just within the entrance to their roost alertly listening for the echolocation sounds of an approaching bat, and upon hearing the pulses begin to loudly and repeatedly broadcast their songs (Bohn et al, 2013).…”

Section: Molossidaementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Male T. brasiliensis sit poised just within the entrance to their roost alertly listening for the echolocation sounds of an approaching bat, and upon hearing the pulses begin to loudly and repeatedly broadcast their songs (Bohn et al, 2013). Unlike the sac-winged bats, however, male freetailed bats cannot discriminate the sex of a passing conspecific based solely on their pulse acoustics (Gillam and McCracken 2007;Tressler and Smotherman 2009;Tressler et al 2011).…”

Section: Molossidaementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teeling). Families that contain singing species (Megadermatidae, Emballonuridae, Molossidae, Vespertilionidae) are highlighted Bohn et al (2008Bohn et al ( , 2009Bohn et al ( , 2013 Megadermatidae Cardioderma cor Different syllable types in basic motif Song Sedentary Vaughan (1976) and McWilliam (1987) Megadermatidae Lavia frons…”

Section: How Is Singing Different From Calling?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Territorial defense of such large foraging areas is impractical and unlikely, but reliable day roosts, even temporary ones, are a limited resource and male T. brasiliensis aggressively defend these (Bohn et al 2009;Schwartz et al 2007). From within their day roosts male T. brasiliensis are prolific singers, using song particularly during the early spring to repel males and alert passing females to the presence and location of their roost (Bohn et al 2013).…”

Section: Molossidaementioning

confidence: 99%

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The origins and diversity of bat songs

et al. 2016

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Singing plays an important role in the social lives of several disparate bat species, but just how significant the behavior may be among bats generally is unknown. Recent discoveries suggest singing by bats might be surprisingly more diverse and widespread than anticipated, but if true then two questions must be addressed: firstly why has singing been so rarely documented among bats, and secondly do bats sing for the same reasons as songbirds? We address the first question by reviewing how sampling bias and technical constraints may have produced a myopic view of bat social communication. To address the second question, we review evidence from 50 years of batsong literature supporting the supposition that bat singing is linked to the same constellation of ecological variables that favored birdsong, including territoriality, polygyny, metabolic constraints, migratory behaviors and especially powered flight. We propose that bats sing like birds because they fly like birds; flight is energetically expensive and singing reduces time spent flying. Factoring in the singular importance of acoustic communication for echolocating bats, it seems likely that singing may prove to be relatively common among certain groups of bats once it becomes clear when and where to look for it.

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