Evolution

Gibbon Chimpanzee Bonobo Human Guenon0

10

20

50

60

Baleen Whales Toothed whales

myo

year

s

Rodents

30

40

PerissodactylsArtiodactyls

The Marine Environment• low visibility• limited use of olfaction• few landmarks• no den• currents move individuals• voice characteristics may change with depth• high background noise• Sound travels 4 times faster than in air and is

subjected to less transmission loss

Velocity

Dep

th [k

m]

0.7

1.4

2

Distance [km]0 80 160

How large are marine mammal communication

“networks”?

Janik (2005)

Song (14min in this case)

Theme

repeated Phrases

How do humpbacks avoid acoustic interference?

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7

Separation (km)

Perc

enta

ge o

f ani

mal

s

SingersSingletons

Frankel et al. 1995

Humpback whale songover the years

Payne et al. 1983

• Song birds, humming birds, parrots• Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina)• Elephants• Bats• Cetaceans• Humans

Vocal production learning refers to instances where the signals themselves are modified in form as a result of experience with those of other individuals. It can result either in signals becoming matched or in distinct differences arising between individuals.

(Janik & Slater 1997, 2000)

Nature 408, 537 (2000); doi:10.1038/35046199

Cultural revolution in whale songsMICHAEL J. NOAD*, DOUGLAS H. CATO*†, M. M. BRYDEN*, MICHELINE -N. JENNER‡ & K. CURT S. JENNER‡* Department of Veterinary Anatomy and Pathology, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia† Defence Science and Technology Organisation , Pyrmont, New South Wales 2009, Australia‡ Centre for Whale Research, PO Box 1622, Fremantle, Western Australia 6959, Australia

e-mail: mnoad@mail.usyd.edu.au

3388611new

12Inter

411572325old

N98S97N97S96N96S95

Van Parijs et al. 2000

Listen for sounds like rocks being rolled over the seabedThese are male harbour seals vocalising

Geographic Variation in Seal Vocalizations

Leopard Seal(Hydrurga leptonyx)

Harp Seal (Phoca groenlandica)

Harbour Seal(Phoca vitulina)

Gray Seal(Halichoerus grypus)

Weddell Seal(Leptonychotes weddellii)

Is a large active space always an advantage?

0

10

20

30

40

1 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 12

Frequency (kHz)

Rang

e (k

m) Sea State 0

Sea State 4

SL 158 dB re 1 μPa

(Janik 2000a)Quick & Janik 2008

• Trained to imitate artificial stimuli

• Capable of producing accurate imitations at first attempt

Richards et al. (1984)

20 kHz

1 sec

Janik & Slater 1998Lieblich et al. 1980

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 s

5

10

15

20

kHz

0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

mV

-500

0

500

s

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 s

5

10

15

20

kHz

0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

mV

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

s

Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, p < 0.05

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

non-kin kin

Playback stimulus

Num

ber o

f hea

d tu

rns

Kopfdrehung zum Lautsprecher(in 5 min nach dem Vorspiel)

Janik et al. 2006. PNAS

Whistle Matching in Bottlenose Dolphins

Janik (2000b)

Encounters at sea

A AA A A AB B BB

In 9 of 11 cases a vocal exchange was followed by groups joining.

In 10 observed group joins only one did not include whistle exchanges.

(Quick & Janik, in prep)

femalesmales

Smolker et al. (1992)

Dolphins live in fission-fusion societies.

If vocal patterns reflect the requirements of the social

structure, what would we expect in other species?

How can we test whether social requirements relate to vocal patterns?

Look at Tursiops in different conditions!

Lusseau et al. 2003

Wakatobi Marine National Park

Chorussing bei pelagischen Delphinen

5

5

5

5

5

5

10

10

10

10

10

10

15

15

15

15

15

15

20

20

20

20

20

20

kHz

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 s (Janik et al. in prep)

Functions of individual calls

RecognitionPredationForagingMate attraction

Bray Calls of Bottlenose Dolphins

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.40

2

4

6

8

10

12

Time (sec)

Freq

uenc

y (k

Hz)

Reactions to Bray Calls

0

10

20

away at position towards

Num

ber o

f 15

sec.

per

iods

with

fast

swim

ming 15 s before braying

15 s after braying

* ***

Movements of dolphins

(Janik 2000c)

Louis Herman& Akeakamai

Ronald Schusterman& Rocky

Language Training

Herman et al. (1984) Cognition 16: 129-219

Akeakamai vocabulary(Examples)

• Hoop, frisbee, basket, water, person, hoop, ball, surfboard, speaker, pipe, Phoenix etc.

• Fetch, leap, spit, swim, wave, tail touch, point

• Over, under, in, right, left, through• And, question

Rocky (Schusterman & Gisiner)

• did not generalize (i.e. “ball” just meant one particular ball)

• training involved a break of several seconds between each gesture

• had a much smaller vocabulary• Only a very limited set of actions (“fetch”

but not “in”)

Learned referential signals