Social drive and the evolution of primate hearing

Ramsier, Marissa; Cunningham, A. J.; Finneran, James J.; Dominy, Nathaniel J.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0219

Cited by 54 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…that differ in their social system provided evidence of a correlation between social complexity and olfactory complexity (Del Barco-Trillo et al, 2012). Lastly, a study on the auditory system of 20 non-human primate species revealed a correlation between social complexity and enhanced hearing sensitivity (Ramsier et al, 2012). This set of comparative studies suggests that the theory of a social-vocal coevolution of communicative abilities might also apply to other communicative modalities at both the production and perception levels (Freeberg et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social complexity parallels vocal complexity: a comparison of three non-human primate species

Bouchet¹,

Blois‐Heulin²,

Lemasson³

2013

Front. Psychol.

107

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Social factors play a key role in the structuring of vocal repertoires at the individual level, notably in non-human primates. Some authors suggested that, at the species level too, social life may have driven the evolution of communicative complexity, but this has rarely been empirically tested. Here, we use a comparative approach to address this issue. We investigated vocal variability, at both the call type and the repertoire levels, in three forest-dwelling species of Cercopithecinae presenting striking differences in their social systems, in terms of social organization as well as social structure. We collected female call recordings from twelve De Brazza's monkeys (Cercopithecus neglectus), six Campbell's monkeys (Cercopithecus campbelli) and seven red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) housed in similar conditions. First, we noted that the level of acoustic variability and individual distinctiveness found in several call types was related to their importance in social functioning. Contact calls, essential to intra-group cohesion, were the most individually distinctive regardless of the species, while threat calls were more structurally variable in mangabeys, the most “despotic” of our three species. Second, we found a parallel between the degree of complexity of the species' social structure and the size, diversity, and usage of its vocal repertoire. Mangabeys (most complex social structure) called twice as often as guenons and displayed the largest and most complex repertoire. De Brazza's monkeys (simplest social structure) displayed the smallest and simplest repertoire. Campbell's monkeys displayed an intermediate pattern. Providing evidence of higher levels of vocal variability in species presenting a more complex social system, our results are in line with the theory of a social-vocal coevolution of communicative abilities, opening new perspectives for comparative research on the evolution of communication systems in different animal taxa.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social complexity parallels vocal complexity: a comparison of three non-human primate species

Bouchet¹,

Blois‐Heulin²,

Lemasson³

2013

Front. Psychol.

107

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“…N = 19, Heffner, 2004), the best frequencies for hearing in these species range between 1 and 10 kHz, with a few outliers; in the high frequencies, most primates are able to hear vocalizations ranging up to 35-45 kHz, with prosimians able to hear in much higher frequencies (circa 60 kHz, Ramsier et al, 2012), but humans and chimpanzees limited to lower frequencies (17-29 kHz, Heffner, 2004). Auditory signals are processed similarly in both humans and primates: they are first transformed into neural signals at the basilar membrane of the inner ear, with particular areas of the cochlea sensitive to various frequencies (tonotopy).…”

Section: Vocal Communication: Perceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative neurological approach to emotional expressions in primate vocalizations

Gruber

Grandjean

2017

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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a b s t r a c tDifferent approaches from different research domains have crystallized debate over primate emotional processing and vocalizations in recent decades. On one side, researchers disagree about whether emotional states or processes in animals truly compare to those in humans. On the other, a long-held assumption is that primate vocalizations are innate communicative signals over which nonhuman primates have limited control and a mirror of the emotional state of the individuals producing them, despite growing evidence of intentional production for some vocalizations. Our goal is to connect both sides of the discussion in deciphering how the emotional content of primate calls compares with emotional vocal signals in humans. We focus particularly on neural bases of primate emotions and vocalizations to identify cerebral structures underlying emotion, vocal production, and comprehension in primates, and discuss whether particular structures or neuronal networks solely evolved for specific functions in the human brain. Finally, we propose a model to classify emotional vocalizations in primates according to four dimensions (learning, control, emotional, meaning) to allow comparing calls across species.

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“…This supports evidence from previous analyses indicating that formants higher than F1 correlate more strongly with vocal tract length (GAMBA et al 2012b). Studies of auditory sensitivity by RAMSIER et al (2012;see also RAMSIER et al 2013) have shown that the greatest auditory sensitivity in Eulemur mongoz ranges between 4 and 20 kHz (optimal sensitivity at 8 kHz). This range contains the values of the second and third formants in the vast majority of the vocal types we recorded.…”

Section: Physical Fight Manipulationmentioning

confidence: 93%

The vocal communication of the mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz): phonation mechanisms, acoustic features and quantitative analysis

Nadhurou

Gamba

Andriaholinirina

et al. 2015

Ethology Ecology & Evolution

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We recorded vocalisations of wild Eulemur mongoz groups in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, as well as from habituated captive groups housed in European and Madagascan zoos. Each vocalisation was quantitatively described by means of an acoustic analysis procedure implemented in Praat, and vocal types were distinguished both by ear and by the visual screening of spectrograms. Vocal signals were then associated with the context in which they were produced, to explore whether they occur only in specific behavioural contexts or are uttered in a range of situations. We found that mongoose lemurs possess highly context-specific aerial alarm calls and territorial calls, while the 'croui-croui' is usually emitted to communicate between individuals regrouping at sunset. The other calls we recorded, such as those including low-pitched pulse trains sometimes followed by harmonic elements, were not tightly associated with a particular context. Mongoose lemur utterances included calls produced with closed mouths and the involvement of nasal resonance, or with constant degrees of mouth opening or mandible 'articulation' during phonation. We observed 15 vocal types, nine of which were entered into a multivariate model that classified vocal types with a high degree of reliability. The second and third formants played an important role in discriminating among types of calls.

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Social drive and the evolution of primate hearing

Cited by 54 publications

References 63 publications

Social complexity parallels vocal complexity: a comparison of three non-human primate species

Social complexity parallels vocal complexity: a comparison of three non-human primate species

A comparative neurological approach to emotional expressions in primate vocalizations

The vocal communication of the mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz): phonation mechanisms, acoustic features and quantitative analysis

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