Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were.
Many animals produce vocal sequences that appear complex. Most researchers assume that these sequences are well characterized as Markov chains (i.e. that the probability of a particular vocal element can be calculated from the history of only a finite number of preceding elements). However, this ass...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/246117 2023-07-30T04:06:10+02:00 Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. Kershenbaum, Arik Bowles, Ann E Freeberg, Todd M Jin, Dezhe Z Lameira, Adriano R Bohn, Kirsten 2014-10-07 application/pdf https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/246117 English en eng The Royal Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1370 Proc Biol Sci https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/246117 language evolution renewal process vocal complexity Animals Biological Evolution Mammals Markov Chains Models Statistical Passeriformes Sound Spectrography Species Specificity Vocalization Animal Article 2014 ftunivcam 2023-07-10T21:52:08Z Many animals produce vocal sequences that appear complex. Most researchers assume that these sequences are well characterized as Markov chains (i.e. that the probability of a particular vocal element can be calculated from the history of only a finite number of preceding elements). However, this assumption has never been explicitly tested. Furthermore, it is unclear how language could evolve in a single step from a Markovian origin, as is frequently assumed, as no intermediate forms have been found between animal communication and human language. Here, we assess whether animal taxa produce vocal sequences that are better described by Markov chains, or by non-Markovian dynamics such as the 'renewal process' (RP), characterized by a strong tendency to repeat elements. We examined vocal sequences of seven taxa: Bengalese finches Lonchura striata domestica, Carolina chickadees Poecile carolinensis, free-tailed bats Tadarida brasiliensis, rock hyraxes Procavia capensis, pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus, killer whales Orcinus orca and orangutans Pongo spp. The vocal systems of most of these species are more consistent with a non-Markovian RP than with the Markovian models traditionally assumed. Our data suggest that non-Markovian vocal sequences may be more common than Markov sequences, which must be taken into account when evaluating alternative hypotheses for the evolution of signalling complexity, and perhaps human language origins. This is the author's accepted manuscript and will be under embargo until the 20th of August 2015. This final version is published by Royal Society Publishing here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1370. Article in Journal/Newspaper Orca Orcinus orca Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
language evolution renewal process vocal complexity Animals Biological Evolution Mammals Markov Chains Models Statistical Passeriformes Sound Spectrography Species Specificity Vocalization Animal |
spellingShingle |
language evolution renewal process vocal complexity Animals Biological Evolution Mammals Markov Chains Models Statistical Passeriformes Sound Spectrography Species Specificity Vocalization Animal Kershenbaum, Arik Bowles, Ann E Freeberg, Todd M Jin, Dezhe Z Lameira, Adriano R Bohn, Kirsten Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. |
topic_facet |
language evolution renewal process vocal complexity Animals Biological Evolution Mammals Markov Chains Models Statistical Passeriformes Sound Spectrography Species Specificity Vocalization Animal |
description |
Many animals produce vocal sequences that appear complex. Most researchers assume that these sequences are well characterized as Markov chains (i.e. that the probability of a particular vocal element can be calculated from the history of only a finite number of preceding elements). However, this assumption has never been explicitly tested. Furthermore, it is unclear how language could evolve in a single step from a Markovian origin, as is frequently assumed, as no intermediate forms have been found between animal communication and human language. Here, we assess whether animal taxa produce vocal sequences that are better described by Markov chains, or by non-Markovian dynamics such as the 'renewal process' (RP), characterized by a strong tendency to repeat elements. We examined vocal sequences of seven taxa: Bengalese finches Lonchura striata domestica, Carolina chickadees Poecile carolinensis, free-tailed bats Tadarida brasiliensis, rock hyraxes Procavia capensis, pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus, killer whales Orcinus orca and orangutans Pongo spp. The vocal systems of most of these species are more consistent with a non-Markovian RP than with the Markovian models traditionally assumed. Our data suggest that non-Markovian vocal sequences may be more common than Markov sequences, which must be taken into account when evaluating alternative hypotheses for the evolution of signalling complexity, and perhaps human language origins. This is the author's accepted manuscript and will be under embargo until the 20th of August 2015. This final version is published by Royal Society Publishing here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1370. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kershenbaum, Arik Bowles, Ann E Freeberg, Todd M Jin, Dezhe Z Lameira, Adriano R Bohn, Kirsten |
author_facet |
Kershenbaum, Arik Bowles, Ann E Freeberg, Todd M Jin, Dezhe Z Lameira, Adriano R Bohn, Kirsten |
author_sort |
Kershenbaum, Arik |
title |
Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. |
title_short |
Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. |
title_full |
Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. |
title_fullStr |
Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Animal vocal sequences: not the Markov chains we thought they were. |
title_sort |
animal vocal sequences: not the markov chains we thought they were. |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/246117 |
genre |
Orca Orcinus orca |
genre_facet |
Orca Orcinus orca |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/246117 |
_version_ |
1772818622833491968 |