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Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences

Vocal learning, the ability to modify the acoustic structure of vocalizations based on social experience, is a fundamental feature of speech in humans (Homo sapiens). While vocal learning is common in taxa such as songbirds and whales, the vocal learning capacities of nonhuman primates appear more l...

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Autores principales: Desai, Nisarg P., Fedurek, Pawel, Slocombe, Katie E., Wilson, Michael L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9786991/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36093564
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23430
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author Desai, Nisarg P.
Fedurek, Pawel
Slocombe, Katie E.
Wilson, Michael L.
author_facet Desai, Nisarg P.
Fedurek, Pawel
Slocombe, Katie E.
Wilson, Michael L.
author_sort Desai, Nisarg P.
collection PubMed
description Vocal learning, the ability to modify the acoustic structure of vocalizations based on social experience, is a fundamental feature of speech in humans (Homo sapiens). While vocal learning is common in taxa such as songbirds and whales, the vocal learning capacities of nonhuman primates appear more limited. Intriguingly, evidence for vocal learning has been reported in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), for example, in the form of regional variation (“dialects”) in the “pant‐hoot” calls. This suggests that some capacity for vocal learning may be an ancient feature of the Pan‐Homo clade. Nonetheless, reported differences have been subtle, with intercommunity variation representing only a small portion of the total acoustic variation. To gain further insights into the extent of regional variation in chimpanzee vocalizations, we performed an analysis of pant‐hoots from chimpanzees in the neighboring Kasekela and Mitumba communities at Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and the geographically distant Kanyawara community at Kibale National Park, Uganda. We did not find any statistically significant differences between the neighboring communities at Gombe or among geographically distant communities. Furthermore, we found differences among individuals in all communities. Hence, the variation in chimpanzee pant‐hoots reflected individual differences, rather than group differences. Thus, we did not find evidence of dialects in this population, suggesting that extensive vocal learning emerged only after the lineages of Homo and Pan diverged.
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spelling pubmed-97869912022-12-27 Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences Desai, Nisarg P. Fedurek, Pawel Slocombe, Katie E. Wilson, Michael L. Am J Primatol Research Articles Vocal learning, the ability to modify the acoustic structure of vocalizations based on social experience, is a fundamental feature of speech in humans (Homo sapiens). While vocal learning is common in taxa such as songbirds and whales, the vocal learning capacities of nonhuman primates appear more limited. Intriguingly, evidence for vocal learning has been reported in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), for example, in the form of regional variation (“dialects”) in the “pant‐hoot” calls. This suggests that some capacity for vocal learning may be an ancient feature of the Pan‐Homo clade. Nonetheless, reported differences have been subtle, with intercommunity variation representing only a small portion of the total acoustic variation. To gain further insights into the extent of regional variation in chimpanzee vocalizations, we performed an analysis of pant‐hoots from chimpanzees in the neighboring Kasekela and Mitumba communities at Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and the geographically distant Kanyawara community at Kibale National Park, Uganda. We did not find any statistically significant differences between the neighboring communities at Gombe or among geographically distant communities. Furthermore, we found differences among individuals in all communities. Hence, the variation in chimpanzee pant‐hoots reflected individual differences, rather than group differences. Thus, we did not find evidence of dialects in this population, suggesting that extensive vocal learning emerged only after the lineages of Homo and Pan diverged. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-09-12 2022-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9786991/ /pubmed/36093564 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23430 Text en © 2022 The Authors. American Journal of Primatology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Desai, Nisarg P.
Fedurek, Pawel
Slocombe, Katie E.
Wilson, Michael L.
Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences
title Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences
title_full Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences
title_fullStr Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences
title_full_unstemmed Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences
title_short Chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences
title_sort chimpanzee pant‐hoots encode individual information more reliably than group differences
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9786991/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36093564
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23430
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