02100nas a2200241 4500008004100000022001300041245010800054210006900162260001600231300001200247490000800259520136000267653002201627653002901649653002101678100001401699700001901713700001401732700001501746700001401761700001601775856006701791 2019 eng d a0003347200aAcoustic signalling of aggressive intent in the agonistic encounters of female Asian particoloured bats0 aAcoustic signalling of aggressive intent in the agonistic encoun cJan-03-2019 a65 - 750 v1493 a

The signals of animal aggressive intent can communicate aggression levels to competitors, thereby settling conflicts at an early stage and thus reducing energy costs. We tested whether aggressive vocalizations of female Asian particoloured bats, Vespertilio sinensis, encode aggressive intent during agonistic encounters that occur whenever an intruder pushes a resident to obtain a more central roosting spot. Our results showed that the number of noisy/tonal syllables of the disturbed bats met the three criteria used to define aggressive intent. First, the number and ratio of tonal syllables were significantly greater when intruders continued to push, and the number and ratio of noisy syllables were significantly greater when they stopped pushing (context criterion). Second, skin temperature related to emotional arousal during aggressive interaction generally increased when intruders stopped pushing but was unchanged or decreased when they continued pushing (predictive criterion). Finally, bats preferentially selected stimuli with more tonal syllables, and they spent more time approaching more noisy syllables in a two-choice playback experiment (response criterion). Thus, we propose that the number of noisy/tonal syllables within aggressive vocalizations of female Asian particoloured bats functions to signal aggressive intent.

10aaggressive intent10aaggressive vocalizations10askin temperature1 aZhao, Xin1 aJiang, Tinglei1 aLiu, Heng1 aWang, Yuze1 aLiu, Ying1 aFeng, Jiang uhttps://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S000334721930013202507nas 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

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.

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

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.

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