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Coding of Static Information in Terrestrial Mammal Vocal Signals

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Coding Strategies in Vertebrate Acoustic Communication

Part of the book series: Animal Signals and Communication ((ANISIGCOM,volume 7))

Abstract

Understanding how information is encoded in vocal signals, and what function it serves during social and sexual interactions, is a key objective of animal communication research. In this chapter, we focus on the origins and functions of vocal cues to stable, long-term attributes of callers (such as identity, sex, and body size) in terrestrial mammals, including humans. We show that relatively static vocal cues largely originate from biomechanical constraints linked to the animal’s anatomy or physiology that affect the possible ranges of key frequency components (fundamental frequency and formant spacing) in their calls. We illustrate how the source–filter theory of voice production provides a useful framework for determining the biomechanical origins of the information content of mammalian vocal signals, and how dedicated tools enable researchers to test the functions and social outcomes of relevant acoustic variation in controlled playback experiments. The body of research reviewed in this chapter illustrates how combining observational (anatomy, acoustics), experimental (playback studies), and comparative approaches enables researchers to draw general conclusions about the selection pressures driving the evolution of vocal production and perception in mammals.

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Author notes

  1. All authors equally contributed to this chapter.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research, Escondido, CA, USA

    Benjamin D. Charlton

  2. Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/CRNL CNRS UMR5292, INSERM UMRS1028, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France

    Katarzyna Pisanski & David Reby

  3. Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Jordan Raine

Authors
  1. Benjamin D. Charlton
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  2. Katarzyna Pisanski
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  3. Jordan Raine
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  4. David Reby
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Correspondence to David Reby .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Equipe Communications Acoustiques Neuro-PSI, CNRS UMR9197, University Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France

    Thierry Aubin

  2. Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/CRNL, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM UMRS1028, University of Lyon, Saint-Etienne, France

    Nicolas Mathevon

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Charlton, B.D., Pisanski, K., Raine, J., Reby, D. (2020). Coding of Static Information in Terrestrial Mammal Vocal Signals. In: Aubin, T., Mathevon, N. (eds) Coding Strategies in Vertebrate Acoustic Communication. Animal Signals and Communication, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39200-0_5

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