02507nas a2200253   4500008004100000022001400041245012300055210006900178260001600247520173100263653002701994653000902021653001002030653001702040653002102057100001902078700001502097700001602112700001202128700001702140700001602157700002402173856005602197       2019                        eng d  a1435-944800aBats increase vocal amplitude and decrease vocal complexity to mitigate noise interference during social communication0 aBats increase vocal amplitude and decrease vocal complexity to m  cOct-01-20193 a<p>Natural background noises are common in the acoustic environments in which most organisms have evolved. Therefore, the vocalization and sound perception systems of vocal animals are inherently equipped to overcome natural background noise. Human-generated noises, however, pose new challenges that can hamper audiovocal communication. The mechanisms animals use to cope with anthropogenic noise disturbances have been extensively explored in a variety of taxa. Bats emit echolocation pulses primarily to orient, locate and navigate, while social calls are used to communicate with conspecifics. Previous studies have shown that bats alter echolocation pulse parameters in response to background noise interference. In contrast to high-frequency echolocation pulses, relatively low-frequency components within bat social calls overlap broadly with ambient noise frequencies. However, how bats structure their social calls in the presence of anthropogenic noise is not known. Here, we hypothesized that bats leverage vocal plasticity to facilitate vocal exchanges within a noisy environment. To test this hypothesis, we subjected the Asian particolored bat, Vespertilio sinensis, to prerecorded traffic noise. We observed a significant decrease in vocal complexity (i.e., an increased frequency of monosyllabic calls) in response to traffic noise. However, an increase in the duration and frequency of social calls, as have been observed in other species, was not evident. This suggests that signal simplification may increase communication efficacy in noisy environments. Moreover, V. sinensis also increased call amplitude in response to increased traffic noise, consistent with the predictions of the Lombard effect.</p>
10aacoustic communication10abats10aNoise10aSocial calls10avocal plasticity1 aJiang, Tinglei1 aGuo, Xiong1 aLin, Aiqing1 aWu, Hui1 aSun, Congnan1 aFeng, Jiang1 aKanwal, Jagmeet, S.  uhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10071-018-01235-002894nas a2200313   4500008004100000022001300041245010600054210006900160260001600229300001400245490000800259520179700267653002402064653000802088653001802096653003202114653001302146653001902159653002902178100001902207700002002226700002002246700001702266700001202283700001702295700001902312700001602331856023302347       2018                        eng d  a0003347200aAcoustic similarity elicits responses to heterospecific distress calls in bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera)0 aAcoustic similarity elicits responses to heterospecific distress  cJan-12-2018  a143 - 1540 v1463 a<p>Frequently, individuals of one species respond to alarm calls produced by another species. This form of interspecies communication can be critical for survival. How animals recognize and respond to heterospecific alarm calls is, however, still poorly understood. This is especially true for bats, which are highly vocal and possess a specialized auditory system. We hypothesized that, among bat species, acoustic similarity between heterospecific and conspecific alarm calls is a key factor that underlies call recognition. However, this ability could also be acquired via associative learning from prior exposure or result from phylogenetic relatedness among caller and receiver species, as shown by others. Here we focused on distress calls of bats as representing a certain type of alarm call. To test our hypothesis, we recorded distress calls of 11 bat species from four families at five different sites. We broadcast the recorded calls to three of these species (Rhinolophus sinicus, Myotis badius and Myotis laniger). For all three species, neither prior exposure (familiarity) nor phylogenetic relatedness explained the variation in the response strength, as measured by echolocation vocalizations of receiver species in response to playback of heterospecific distress calls. In contrast, acoustic similarity, especially in peak frequency, between conspecific and heterospecific distress calls, was positively correlated with response strength in the receiver species. Thus, our findings emphasize that, at least among bats, acoustic similarity is a key factor allowing recognition of heterospecific alarm calls. It remains unclear whether evolutionary, genetic and/or neurophysiological mechanisms entrain an individual to respond selectively to a specific acoustic feature.</p>
10aacoustic similarity10abat10adistress call10ainterspecific eavesdropping10alearning10apeak frequency10aphylogenetic relatedness1 aHuang, Xiaobin1 aMetzner, Walter1 aZhang, Kangkang1 aWang, Yujuan1 aLuo, Bo1 aSun, Congnan1 aJiang, Tinglei1 aFeng, Jiang  uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0003347218303191https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218303191?httpAccept=text/xmlhttps://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S0003347218303191?httpAccept=text/plain