Complex vocal imitation during ontogeny in a bat
Complex vocal imitation during ontogeny in a bat
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2009.0685
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发表时间：
2010-04-23
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
von Helversen, Otto
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Knoernschild, Mirjam;Nagy, Martina;von Helversen, Otto
声音模仿——从导师那里学习以前未知的声音信号的能力——被认为是语音进化中的一项关键创新。这种能力在动物界中非常罕见，而且分布不均匀，这表明存在多种趋同进化的例子。长期以来，人们一直预测蝙蝠应该能够模仿声音，我们的研究结果为这一现象提供了证据。我们报告说，蝙蝠 Saccopteryx bilineata 的幼崽通过声音模仿学习复杂的发声。在个体发育过程中，雌雄幼崽都会模仿成年雄性的领地歌曲，从简单的前体歌曲开始，发展成真正的表演。幼犬的声音与其声学模型的相似性并非由身体成熟效应引起，与幼犬的性别和与成年雄性的相关性无关，并且在个体发育过程中变得更加明显，表明听觉体验对于声音发育至关重要。我们的研究结果表明，声音模仿能力比之前想象的更为广泛，并强调了研究蝙蝠的声音交流对于更好地理解声音模仿的进化起源的重要性。
Vocal imitation-the ability to learn a previously unknown acoustic signal from a tutor-is considered to be a key innovation in the evolution of speech. This faculty is very rare and patchily distributed within the animal kingdom, suggesting multiple instances of convergent evolution. It has long been predicted that bats should be capable of vocal imitation and our results provide evidence for this phenomenon. We report that pups of the bat Saccopteryx bilineata learn a complex vocalization through vocal imitation. During ontogeny, pups of both sexes imitate territorial song from adult males, starting with simple precursor songs that develop into genuine renditions. The resemblance of pup renditions to their acoustic model is not caused by physical maturation effects, is independent of pups' gender and relatedness towards adult males and becomes more pronounced during ontogeny, showing that auditory experience is essential for vocal development. Our findings indicate that the faculty of vocal imitation is more widespread than previously thought and emphasize the importance of research on audiovocal communication in bats for a better understanding of the evolutionary origin of vocal imitation.