Abstract
Unlike the acoustic features of calls, the temporal patterns of call usage in nonhuman primates are highly flexible. Our recent studies suggest that vocal patterns and species social needs coevolved. Different patterns, for example calling alone by producing one or several calls in a sequence or interacting vocally with more or less call overlap, may serve different functions. Vocal turn-taking in particular may be key to understanding the possible link between vocal behavior and social life. Turn-taking is used flexibly in many primate species, notably during affiliative encounters, and follows social and temporal rules that evoke similarities with human conversations. We tested the influence of caller characteristics and production context on the vocal behavior of a captive group of 15 chimpanzees using 48h30 of scan and focal sampling. 84% of the 516 recorded utterances were isolated calls. When there were vocal interactions, overlapping calls prevailed (63%), mostly involving adult males pant-hooting. Chimpanzees mostly produced calls in series, and the higher-ranked the caller, the faster the speed of call delivery. The social importance of consecutive calling was supported by a higher rate of audience reaction when the number of calls increased, suggesting strategic use of message redundancy. However, social integration, age, and sex weakly influenced call rates and interaction patterns. Although this study concerns a single study group, the rarity of turn-taking supports findings for wild chimpanzees. Why chimpanzees do not display this vocal behavior, which is commonly observed in primates, including other apes, is still puzzling.
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The data generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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The authors are deeply grateful to the ZooParc de Beauval and the chimpanzee caregivers for their valuable assistance. They also warmly thank Katie Collier for correcting our English. This work was financially supported by a CIFRE grant (#2018_00074) funded by the Association Beauval Nature pour la Conservation et la Recherche, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Rennes 1 University and Lyon/Saint-Etienne University. We are also very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and to the editor for their helpful comments about our manuscript.
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LP, AL, BM, and FL conceived, designed, and coordinated the study. LP collected data and performed the statistical analyses. LP, AL, and FL interpreted and drafted the manuscript. All authors gave final approval for publication and agree to be held accountable for the work performed therein.
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Pougnault, L., Lemasson, A., Mulot, B. et al. Temporal calling patterns of a captive group of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Int J Primatol 42, 809–832 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-021-00262-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-021-00262-y