02673nas a2200229   4500008004100000245010500041210006900146520188000215653001702095653002102112653002502133653002602158653002102184653001802205653002402223653001902247100002602266700002502292700002302317700001702340856008602357       2019                        eng d00aIndividual signatures outweigh social group identity in contact calls of a communally nesting parrot0 aIndividual signatures outweigh social group identity in contact 3 a<p>Despite longstanding interest in the evolutionary origins and maintenance of vocal learning, we know relatively little about how social dynamics influence vocal learning processes in natural populations. The &ldquo;signaling group membership&rdquo; hypothesis proposes that socially learned calls evolved and are maintained as signals of group membership. However, in fission&ndash;fusion societies, individuals can interact in social groups across various social scales. For learned calls to signal group membership over multiple social scales, they must contain information about group membership over each of these scales, a concept termed &ldquo;hierarchical mapping.&rdquo; Monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus), small parrots native to South America, exhibit vocal mimicry in captivity and fission&ndash;fusion social dynamics in the wild. We examined patterns of contact call acoustic similarity in Uruguay to test the hierarchical mapping assumption of the signaling group membership hypothesis. We also asked whether geographic variation patterns matched regional dialects or geographic clines that have been documented in other vocal learning species. We used visual inspection, spectrographic cross-correlation and random forests, a machine learning approach, to evaluate contact call similarity. We compared acoustic similarity across social scales and geographic distance using Mantel tests and spatial autocorrelation. We found high similarity within individuals, and low, albeit significant, similarity within groups at the pair, flock and site social scales. Patterns of acoustic similarity over geographic distance did not match mosaic or graded patterns expected in dialectal or clinal variation. Our findings suggest that monk parakeet social interactions rely more heavily upon individual recognition than group membership at higher social scales.</p>
10acontact call10agroup membership10ahierarchical mapping10aindividual signatures10amachine learning10amonk parakeet10aMyiopsitta monachus10avocal learning1 aSmith-Vidaurre, Grace1 aAraya-Salas, Marcelo1 aWright, Timothy, F1 aNaguib, Marc  uhttps://academic.oup.com/beheco/advance-article/doi/10.1093/beheco/arz202/568071502339nas a2200145   4500008004100000022001400041245010600055210006900161260001600230520179600246100002502042700001702067700002302084856008602107       2018                        eng d  a1045-224900aCalling in the heat: the zebra finch “incubation call” depends on heat but not reproductive stage0 aCalling in the heat the zebra finch incubation call depends on h  cAug-10-20183 a<p>Environmental conditions during early development can profoundly impact an organism&rsquo;s phenotype, potentially resulting in future adaptations. Offspring can often obtain environmental information directly, but in some cases rely on parental cues or signals. It was recently suggested that at high ambient temperatures zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) parents use acoustic signals (&ldquo;incubation calls&rdquo; or hereon &ldquo;v-calls&rdquo;) to adaptively alter offspring development for hot conditions. However, this conclusion requires a thorough understanding of the timing and production of the call. In this study, we use audio recordings (1696 h) from within wild zebra finch nest-boxes, and of nonbreeding captive zebra finches experimentally exposed to heat, to characterize the circumstances under which v-calls are produced. V-call incidence was positively related to ambient temperature in the wild and captivity, confirming that v-calls are temperature dependent. However, v-calls were not limited to late incubation (as previously suggested) and were instead produced throughout incubation and chick rearing in the wild, and by nonbreeding captive adults. Videos of the captive birds revealed that v-calls were produced during &ldquo;bouts&rdquo; of panting. We found no evidence that during v-call production breathing patterns were being altered from that optimal for panting and typical of quiet respiration (1:1 inspiration:expiration). While embryos may gather climatic information from this heat-related call, it is produced over a range of conditions so is unlikely to be a specifically evolved signal for offspring programming. The idea that parents use specifically evolved signals to provide offspring with climate information requires further study.</p>
1 aMcDiarmid, Callum, S1 aNaguib, Marc1 aGriffith, Simon, C  uhttps://academic.oup.com/beheco/advance-article/doi/10.1093/beheco/ary123/5123578