Vocal communication in wild chimpanzees: a call rate study

Crunchant, Anne-Sophie; Stewart, Fiona; Piel, Alex K.

doi:10.7717/peerj.12326

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Furthermore, to ensure any factors highlighted to influence call combination production are not simply associated with vocal output more generally (e.g. males are known to be more vocal than females (Kalan, 2019;Crunchant et al 2021)), we contrasted the influence of sex, context and rank on the production of single calls as well. As it was only feasible to calculate a dominance hierarchy for males, we conducted two distinct analyses investigating, on the one hand, the effect of sex and context, and on the other hand, the effect of rank on call combination production.…”

Section: Demographic and Contextual Factors Influencing Call Combinat...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Call combinations in chimpanzees: a social tool?

Leroux

Chandia²,

Bosshard

et al. 2022

Behavioral Ecology

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A growing body of evidence suggests the capacity for animals to combine calls into larger communicative structures is more common than previously assumed. Despite its cross-taxa prevalence, little is known regarding the evolutionary pressures driving such combinatorial abilities. One dominant hypothesis posits that social complexity and vocal complexity are linked, with changes in social structuring (e.g., group size) driving the emergence of ever-more complex vocal abilities, such as call sequencing. In this paper, we tested this hypothesis through investigating combinatoriality in the vocal system of the highly social chimpanzee. Specifically, we predicted combinatoriality to be more common in socially-driven contexts and in females and lower-ranked males (socially challenging contexts and socially challenged individuals respectively). Firstly, through applying methods from computational linguistics (i.e., collocation analyses), we built an objective repertoire of combinatorial structures in this species. Second, we investigated what potential factors influenced call combination production. We show that combinatoriality is predominant in 1) social contexts vs. non-social contexts, 2) females vs. males, and 3) negatively correlates with male rank. Together, these results suggest one function of combinatoriality in chimpanzees may be to help individuals navigate their dynamic social world. More generally, we argue these findings provide support for the hypothesized link between social and vocal complexity and can provide insight into the evolution of our own highly combinatorial communication system, language.

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Section: Demographic and Contextual Factors Influencing Call Combinat...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Call combinations in chimpanzees: a social tool?

Leroux

Chandia²,

Bosshard

et al. 2022

Behavioral Ecology

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“…The vocal communication of primates has been found to change in different habitats [56,95]. Gibbons (Hylobatidae) were found to call less in disturbed areas and increase their call rate at quieter times of the day [56].…”

Section: (A) Application Of Passive Acoustic Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated acoustic detection of Geoffroy's spider monkey highlights tipping points of human disturbance

et al. 2023

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As more land is altered by human activity and more species become at risk of extinction, it is essential that we understand the requirements for conserving threatened species across human-modified landscapes. Owing to their rarity and often sparse distributions, threatened species can be difficult to study and efficient methods to sample them across wide temporal and spatial scales have been lacking. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is increasingly recognized as an efficient method for collecting data on vocal species; however, the development of automated species detectors required to analyse large amounts of acoustic data is not keeping pace. Here, we collected 35 805 h of acoustic data across 341 sites in a region over 1000 km 2 to show that PAM, together with a newly developed automated detector, is able to successfully detect the endangered Geoffroy's spider monkey ( Ateles geoffroyi ), allowing us to show that Geoffroy's spider monkey was absent below a threshold of 80% forest cover and within 1 km of primary paved roads and occurred equally in old growth and secondary forests. We discuss how this methodology circumvents many of the existing issues in traditional sampling methods and can be highly successful in the study of vocally rare or threatened species. Our results provide tools and knowledge for setting targets and developing conservation strategies for the protection of Geoffroy's spider monkey.

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“…Alternatively, contact calling rates may not be explained by the individual identity of the receivers. In some taxa, call rates are influenced by the risk of becoming separated from one's group [41,42]; thus, contact calls may be produced for the entire group, not targeted at a single receiver, to remain in close contact with group members [43,44] or to avoid inter-group interactions, which could result in aggression [45]. In that case, we expect the best predictor of calling rate to be the caller, rather than the receiver or its kinship or association with the caller.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calling to the collective: contact calling rates within groups of disc-winged bats do not vary by kinship or association

Chaverri,

Sagot,

Stynoski

et al. 2024

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Many group-living animals coordinate social behaviours using contact calls, which can be produced for all group members or targeted at specific individuals. In the disc-winged bat, Thyroptera tricolor , group members use ‘inquiry’ and ‘response’ calls to coordinate daily movements into new roosts (furled leaves). Rates of both calls show consistent among-individual variation, but causes of within-individual variation remain unknown. Here, we tested whether disc-winged bats produce more contact calls towards group members with higher kinship or association. In 446 experimental trials, we recorded 139 random within-group pairs of one flying bat (producing inquiry calls for roost searching) and one roosting bat (producing response calls for roost advertising). Using generalized linear mixed-effect models (GLMM), we assessed how response and inquiry calling rates varied by sender, receiver, genetic kinship and co-roosting association rate. Calling rates varied consistently across senders but not by receiver. Response calling was influenced by inquiry calling rates, but neither calling rate was higher when the interacting pair had higher kinship or association. Rather than dyadic calling rates indicating within-group relationships, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that bats produce contact calls to maintain contact with any or all individuals within a group while collectively searching for a new roost site. This article is part of the theme issue 'The power of sound: unravelling how acoustic communication shapes group dynamics'.

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Vocal communication in wild chimpanzees: a call rate study

Cited by 6 publications

References 76 publications

Call combinations in chimpanzees: a social tool?

Call combinations in chimpanzees: a social tool?

Automated acoustic detection of Geoffroy's spider monkey highlights tipping points of human disturbance

Calling to the collective: contact calling rates within groups of disc-winged bats do not vary by kinship or association

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