Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development
Studying sound production at different developmental stages can provide insight into the processes involved in vocal ontogeny. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a known vocal learning species, but their vocal development is poorly understood. While studies of humpback whale calves in the...
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ftuniaarhuspubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/587737e5-c72e-4051-90df-5b4cb463bfe0 2024-09-09T19:44:10+00:00 Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development Zeh, Julia M. Adcock, Dana L. Perez-Marrufo, Valeria Cusano, Dana A. Robbins, Jooke Tackaberry, Jennifer E. Jensen, Frants H. Weinrich, Mason Friedlaender, Ari S. Wiley, David N. Parks, Susan E. 2024-05 https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/587737e5-c72e-4051-90df-5b4cb463bfe0 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303741 eng eng https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/587737e5-c72e-4051-90df-5b4cb463bfe0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Zeh , J M , Adcock , D L , Perez-Marrufo , V , Cusano , D A , Robbins , J , Tackaberry , J E , Jensen , F H , Weinrich , M , Friedlaender , A S , Wiley , D N & Parks , S E 2024 , ' Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground : Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development ' , PLOS ONE , vol. 19 , no. 5 May , e0303741 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303741 article 2024 ftuniaarhuspubl https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303741 2024-06-18T14:33:40Z Studying sound production at different developmental stages can provide insight into the processes involved in vocal ontogeny. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a known vocal learning species, but their vocal development is poorly understood. While studies of humpback whale calves in the early stages of their lives on the breeding grounds and migration routes exist, little is known about the behavior of these immature, dependent animals by the time they reach the feeding grounds. In this study, we used data from groups of North Atlantic humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine in which all members were simultaneously carrying acoustic recording tags attached with suction cups. This allowed for assignment of likely caller identity using the relative received levels of calls across tags. We analyzed data from 3 calves and 13 adults. There were high levels of call rate variation among these individuals and the results represent preliminary descriptions of calf behavior. Our analysis suggests that, in contrast to the breeding grounds or on migration, calves are no longer acoustically cryptic by the time they reach their feeding ground. Calves and adults both produce calls in bouts, but there may be some differences in bout parameters like intercall intervals and bout durations. Calves were able to produce most of the adult vocal repertoire but used different call types in different proportions. Finally, we found evidence of immature call types in calves, akin to protosyllables used in babbling in other mammals, including humans. Overall, the sound production of humpback whale calves on the feeding grounds appears to be already similar to that of adults, but with differences in line with ontogenetic changes observed in other vocal learning species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic Aarhus University: Research PLOS ONE 19 5 e0303741 |
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Open Polar |
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Aarhus University: Research |
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ftuniaarhuspubl |
language |
English |
description |
Studying sound production at different developmental stages can provide insight into the processes involved in vocal ontogeny. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a known vocal learning species, but their vocal development is poorly understood. While studies of humpback whale calves in the early stages of their lives on the breeding grounds and migration routes exist, little is known about the behavior of these immature, dependent animals by the time they reach the feeding grounds. In this study, we used data from groups of North Atlantic humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine in which all members were simultaneously carrying acoustic recording tags attached with suction cups. This allowed for assignment of likely caller identity using the relative received levels of calls across tags. We analyzed data from 3 calves and 13 adults. There were high levels of call rate variation among these individuals and the results represent preliminary descriptions of calf behavior. Our analysis suggests that, in contrast to the breeding grounds or on migration, calves are no longer acoustically cryptic by the time they reach their feeding ground. Calves and adults both produce calls in bouts, but there may be some differences in bout parameters like intercall intervals and bout durations. Calves were able to produce most of the adult vocal repertoire but used different call types in different proportions. Finally, we found evidence of immature call types in calves, akin to protosyllables used in babbling in other mammals, including humans. Overall, the sound production of humpback whale calves on the feeding grounds appears to be already similar to that of adults, but with differences in line with ontogenetic changes observed in other vocal learning species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Zeh, Julia M. Adcock, Dana L. Perez-Marrufo, Valeria Cusano, Dana A. Robbins, Jooke Tackaberry, Jennifer E. Jensen, Frants H. Weinrich, Mason Friedlaender, Ari S. Wiley, David N. Parks, Susan E. |
spellingShingle |
Zeh, Julia M. Adcock, Dana L. Perez-Marrufo, Valeria Cusano, Dana A. Robbins, Jooke Tackaberry, Jennifer E. Jensen, Frants H. Weinrich, Mason Friedlaender, Ari S. Wiley, David N. Parks, Susan E. Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development |
author_facet |
Zeh, Julia M. Adcock, Dana L. Perez-Marrufo, Valeria Cusano, Dana A. Robbins, Jooke Tackaberry, Jennifer E. Jensen, Frants H. Weinrich, Mason Friedlaender, Ari S. Wiley, David N. Parks, Susan E. |
author_sort |
Zeh, Julia M. |
title |
Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development |
title_short |
Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development |
title_full |
Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development |
title_fullStr |
Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development |
title_full_unstemmed |
Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development |
title_sort |
acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground:comparisons across age and implications for vocal development |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/587737e5-c72e-4051-90df-5b4cb463bfe0 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303741 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae North Atlantic |
op_source |
Zeh , J M , Adcock , D L , Perez-Marrufo , V , Cusano , D A , Robbins , J , Tackaberry , J E , Jensen , F H , Weinrich , M , Friedlaender , A S , Wiley , D N & Parks , S E 2024 , ' Acoustic behavior of humpback whale calves on the feeding ground : Comparisons across age and implications for vocal development ' , PLOS ONE , vol. 19 , no. 5 May , e0303741 . https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303741 |
op_relation |
https://pure.au.dk/portal/en/publications/587737e5-c72e-4051-90df-5b4cb463bfe0 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303741 |
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PLOS ONE |
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19 |
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5 |
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