Intergroup and intragroup antiphonal songs in wild male Mueller’s gibbons (Hylobates muelleri)

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoichi Inoue ◽  
Waidi Sinun ◽  
Shigeto Yosida ◽  
Kazuo Okanoya
Keyword(s):  
Observational Studies ◽  
New World ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Old World ◽  
World Primate ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Insight Into

Mueller’s gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) sing both sex-specific and duet songs. These songs are thought to be involved in territory maintenance, as well as the maintenance of pair or family bonds. However, few observational studies have examined how gibbons interact with their neighbors through song in the wild. We have been conducting field observations of wild gibbon groups in northeast Borneo since 2001. In the Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL) and Danum Valley Field Center (DVFC) at the Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA), we observed seven episodes of alternating songs between males. Here, we describe the process of song exchange between males. During male interactions, song bouts rarely overlapped and were alternately emitted. Several studies have reported antiphonal vocalizations in New World and Old World primate species, but rarely in apes. Our observations of antiphonal songs in gibbons indicate that gibbons not only unilaterally advertise information, but also interactively communicate with neighbors and family members through songs. Since gibbons are phylogenetically similar to humans, and turn-taking has an important role in human conversation, our research on gibbon communication may provide insight into the evolution of human language.

scholarly journals Female copulation calls vary with male ejaculation in captive olive baboons

Behaviour ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 157 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 807-822
Author(s):  
Stefano Vaglio ◽  
Louise Ducroix ◽  
Maria Rodriguez Villanueva ◽  
Rosanna Consiglio ◽  
Ayong Julia Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Old World Monkeys ◽  
Sexual Swelling ◽  
Old World ◽  
Olive Baboons ◽  
World Primate ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Vaginal Cytology

Abstract Copulation calls are mating-associated vocalizations that are common in primates, with females vocalizing after copulation in several Old World monkeys and apes. Baboon females typically produce copulation calls that correlate with fertile phase. Calls are, thus, regarded as an upshot of cycle physiology and sexually selected calls. Here, we describe three captive troops of olive baboons wherein, against expectation, females suppressed vocalizing during copulations. Vaginal cytology, together with sexual swelling observations, confirmed that females experienced full receptive cycles. Ovulation did not affect vocal probability during sex, while copulation calls were predicted by male ejaculation just as in other Old World primate species. Results cast doubt on the existence of physiological triggers for baboon copulation calls. Social factors may instead play a larger role. Alterations in social structure (as typically observed in the wild) may be implemented strategically as captive enrichment in order to reveal how females in highly social primates change sexual strategies and, therefore, the use of their copulation calls.

scholarly journals Referential alarm calling behaviour in New World primates

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 680-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristiane Cäsar ◽  
Klaus Zuberbühler
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Referential Communication ◽  
New World Monkeys ◽  
Human Language ◽  
New World Primates ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Old World ◽  
Call Type ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract There is relatively good evidence that non-human primates can communicate about objects and events in their environment in ways that allow recipients to draw inferences about the nature of the event experienced by the signaller. In some species, there is also evidence that the basic semantic units are not individual calls, but call sequences and the combinations generated by them. These two findings are relevant to theories pertaining to the origins of human language because of the resemblances of these phenomena with linguistic reference and syntactic organisation. Until recently, however, most research efforts on the primate origins of human language have involved Old World species with comparatively few systematic studies on New World monkeys, which has prevented insights into the deeper phylogenetic roots and evolutionary origins of language-relevant capacities. To address this, we review the older primate literature and very recent evidence for functionally referential communication and call combinations in New World primates. Within the existing literature there is ample evidence in both Callitrichids and Ce-bids for acoustically distinct call variants given to external disturbances that are accompanied by distinct behavioural responses. A general pattern is that one call type is typically produced in response to a wide range of general disturbances, often on the ground but also including inter-group encounters, while another call type is produced in response to a much narrower range of aerial threats. This pattern is already described for Old World monkeys and Prosimians, suggesting an early evolutionary origin. Second, recent work with black-fronted titi monkeys has produced evidence for different alarm call sequences consisting of acoustically distinct call types. These sequences appear to encode several aspects of the predation event simultaneously, notably predator type and location. Since meaningful call sequences have already been described in Old World primates, we suggest that basic combinatorial vocal communication has evolved in the primate lineage long before the advent of language. Moreover, it is possible that some of these communicative abilities have evolved even earlier, or independently, as there is comparable evidence in other taxonomic groups. We discuss these findings in an attempt to shed further light on the primate stock from which human language has arisen.

scholarly journals Brevity is not always a virtue in primate communication

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruna M. Bezerra ◽  
Antonio S. Souto ◽  
Andrew N. Radford ◽  
Gareth Jones
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Common Marmoset ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Coding Efficiency ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Law

Semple et al . (Semple et al. in press, Biol. Lett. ( doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.1062 )) argued that the ‘law of brevity’ (an inverse relationship between word length and frequency of use) applies not only to human language but also to vocal signalling in non-human primates, because coding efficiency is paramount in both situations. We analysed the frequency of use of signals of different duration in the vocal repertoires of two Neotropical primate species studied in the wild—the common marmoset ( Callithrix jacchus ) and the golden-backed uakari ( Cacajao melanocephalus ). The key prediction of the law of brevity was not supported in either species: although the most frequently emitted calls were relatively brief, they were not the shortest signals in the repertoire. The costs and benefits associated with signals of different duration must be appreciated to understand properly their frequency of use. Although relatively brief vocal signals may be favoured by natural selection in order to minimize energetic costs, the very briefest signals may be ambiguous, contain reduced information or be difficult to detect or locate, and may therefore be selected against. Analogies between human language and vocal communication in animals can be misleading as a basis for understanding frequency of use, because coding efficiency is not the only factor of importance in animal communication, and the costs and benefits associated with different signal durations will vary in a species-specific manner.

scholarly journals The common marmoset: A new world primate species with limited Mhc class II variability

1998 ◽  
Vol 95 (20) ◽  
pp. 11745-11750 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Antunes ◽  
N. G. de Groot ◽  
H. Brok ◽  
G. Doxiadis ◽  
A. A. L. Menezes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mhc Class Ii ◽  
New World ◽  
Common Marmoset ◽  
Class Ii ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
World Primate ◽  
The Common

scholarly journals Novel Simian Homologues of Epstein-Barr Virus

2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (19) ◽  
pp. 10695-10699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Ehlers ◽  
Andreas Ochs ◽  
Fabian Leendertz ◽  
Michael Goltz ◽  
Christophe Boesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type Species ◽  
Epstein Barr Virus ◽  
New World ◽  
New World Primates ◽  
Pcr Assay ◽  
Old World ◽  
Barr Virus ◽  
World Primate ◽  
Epstein Barr

ABSTRACT Thirty different lymphocryptoviruses (LCV), 26 of them novel, were detected in primates by a panherpesvirus PCR assay. Nineteen LCV from chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and other Old World primates were closely related to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the type species of the genus Lymphocryptovirus. Seven LCV originating from New World primates were related to callitrichine herpesvirus 3 (CalHV-3), the first recognized New World LCV. Importantly, a second LCV from gorillas and three LCV from orangutans and gibbons were only distantly related to EBV and CalHV-3. They were tentatively assigned to a novel genogroup of Old World primate LCV. The work described in the paper may also help identify an as yet unknown human LCV.

The T-cell receptor β chain-encoding gene repertoire of a New World primate species, the cotton-top tamarin

1996 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Allen ◽  
Jerry S. Lanchbury ◽  
Austin L. Hughes ◽  
David I. Watkins
Keyword(s):  
T Cell ◽  
T Cell Receptor ◽  
New World ◽  
Cell Receptor ◽  
Primate Species ◽  
Gene Repertoire ◽  
World Primate ◽  
Encoding Gene ◽  
Β Chain
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