Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan
Vocal fold control beyond the species-specific repertoire in an orang-utan
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DOI：
10.1038/srep30315
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发表时间：
2016-07-27
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
Shumaker, Robert W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lameira, Adriano R.;Hardus, Madeleine E.;Shumaker, Robert W.
声带控制对于口语的进化至关重要，就像今天它使我们能够学习元音系统一样。然而，它从未在非人类灵长类动物中直接得到证实，因此有人认为它是在与类人猿分化后在人类谱系中进化而来的。在这里，我们提供了第一个证据，证明类人猿在与人类演示者进行模仿“照我做”游戏时，可以进行实时、动态和交互式声带控制。值得注意的是，猩猩受试者巧妙地发出了“wookies”——一种特殊的发声，在猩猩的发声曲目中展现出独特的频谱特征。受试者立即与人类产生的怪人相匹配，因为它们的音调被随机调制，当人类演示者这样做时，他的声音频率会向上或向下调整，很容易产生明显的低频与高频子变体。这些亚变体与自发亚变体（不是在匹配试验中产生）显着不同。结果表明，类人猿具有以下潜在的声带锻炼能力：(i) 实时，(ii) 上下频谱，(iii) 跨越物种库之外的音域范围，以及 (iv) 在合作轮流社会环境中。这种祖先的能力可能为更精细的声带控制提供了神经行为基础，这是人类的标志。
Vocal fold control was critical to the evolution of spoken language, much as it today allows us to learn vowel systems. It has, however, never been demonstrated directly in a non-human primate, leading to the suggestion that it evolved in the human lineage after divergence from great apes. Here, we provide the first evidence for real-time, dynamic and interactive vocal fold control in a great ape during an imitation "do-as-I-do" game with a human demonstrator. Notably, the orang-utan subject skilfully produced "wookies" - an idiosyncratic vocalization exhibiting a unique spectral profile among the orang-utan vocal repertoire. The subject instantaneously matched human-produced wookies as they were randomly modulated in pitch, adjusting his voice frequency up or down when the human demonstrator did so, readily generating distinct low vs. high frequency sub-variants. These sub-variants were significantly different from spontaneous ones (not produced in matching trials). Results indicate a latent capacity for vocal fold exercise in a great ape (i) in real-time, (ii) up and down the frequency spectrum, (iii) across a register range beyond the species-repertoire and, (iv) in a co-operative turn-taking social setup. Such ancestral capacity likely provided the neuro-behavioural basis of the more fine-tuned vocal fold control that is a human hallmark.