02860nas a2200301 4500008004100000245018600041210006900227260001600296300001400312490000800326520181600334653002202150653002702172653002202199653003502221653001402256653001902270100002202289700002602311700001702337700002602354700002702380700002002407700002502427700002802452700002402480856005402504 2017 eng d00aIndividuality of distress and discomfort calls in neonates with bass voices: Wild-living goitred gazelles ( Gazella subgutturosa) and saiga antelopes ( Saiga tatarica)0 aIndividuality of distress and discomfort calls in neonates with  cJan-05-2017 a386 - 3960 v1233 a

Neonate ruminants produce distress calls when captured by a predator and discomfort milk begging calls when hungry. In many neonate ruminants, the distress and discomfort calls are high-frequency vocalizations, in which the fundamental frequency is the key variable for recognition of their emotional arousal by caregivers. In contrast, in this study, we examine the low-frequency open-mouth distress and discomfort calls in the neonates of two species of wild-living ungulates, which clearly highlight vocal tract resonances (formants). In the goitred gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), the distress calls were higher in fundamental frequency (f0) and in the first and third formants than the discomfort calls. The accuracy of classifying individuals by variables of distress calls with discriminant function analysis (67%) was significantly lower than that of discomfort calls (85%). In the saiga (Saiga tatarica), only the third formant was higher in the distress calls than in the discomfort calls. The accuracy of classifying individuals by variables of distress calls (89%) did not differ significantly from that of discomfort calls (94%). Thus, the use of acoustic cues to vocal identity and to the degree of arousal differs between the two species. Calls were significantly more individualistic in the saiga, probably because this species lives in large herds and neonates use a ‘following’ antipredatory strategy, in which vocal individuality is crucial for mother–offspring communication. In contrast, goitred gazelles live in smaller groups and neonates use a ‘hiding’ antipredatory strategy. Accordingly, mothers can rely on additional environmental cues for spotting their young and this may decrease the necessity for individualization of the calls of neonates.

10aacoustic behavior10aantipredatory strategy10aemotional arousal10amother-offspring communication10aruminants10avocal identity1 aVolodin, Ilya, A.1 aSibiryakova, Olga, V.1 aFrey, Roland1 aEfremova, Kseniya, O.1 aSoldatova, Natalia, V.1 aZuther, Steffen1 aKisebaev, Talgat, B.1 aSalemgareev, Albert, R.1 aVolodina, Elena, V. uhttp://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/eth.2017.123.issue-502740nas a2200253 4500008004100000022001400041245013300055210006900188260001600257490000800273520188400281653002702165653003502192653002302227653001902250100002602269700002202295700001702317700002002334700002502354700002802379700002402407856005502431 2017 eng d a0028-104200aRemarkable vocal identity in wild-living mother and neonate saiga antelopes: a specialization for breeding in huge aggregations?0 aRemarkable vocal identity in wildliving mother and neonate saiga cJan-04-20170 v1043 a

Saiga antelopes Saiga tatarica tatarica give birth in large aggregations, and offspring follow the herd soon after birth. Herding is advantageous as anti-predator strategy; however, communication between mothers and neonates is strongly complicated in large aggregations. Individual series of nasal and oral contact calls of mother and neonate saiga antelopes were selected from recordings made with automated recording systems placed near the hiding neonates on the saiga breeding grounds in Northern Kazakhstan during synchronized parturitions of 30,000 calving females. We used for comparison of the acoustic structure of nasal and oral contact calls 168 nasal calls of 18 mothers, 192 oral calls of 21 mothers, 78 nasal calls of 16 neonates, and 197 oral calls of 22 neonates. In the oral calls of either mothers or neonates, formant frequencies were higher and the duration was longer than in the nasal calls, whereas fundamental frequencies did not differ between oral and nasal calls. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) based on six acoustic variables, accurately classified individual identity for 99.4% of oral calls of 18 mothers, for 89.3% of nasal calls of 18 mothers, and for 94.4% of oral calls of 18 neonates. The average value of correct classification to individual was higher in mother oral than in mother nasal calls and in mother oral calls than in neonate oral calls; no significant difference was observed between mother nasal and neonate oral calls. Variables mainly responsible for vocal identity were the fundamental frequency and the second and third formants in either mothers or neonates, and in either nasal or oral calls. The high vocal identity of mothers and neonates suggests a powerful potential for the mutual mother-offspring recognition in dense aggregations of saiga antelopes as an important component of their survival strategy.

10amaternal care in herds10amother-offspring communication10aoffspring survival10avocal identity1 aSibiryakova, Olga, V.1 aVolodin, Ilya, A.1 aFrey, Roland1 aZuther, Steffen1 aKisebaev, Talgat, B.1 aSalemgareev, Albert, R.1 aVolodina, Elena, V. uhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00114-017-1433-0