Evolution of primate protomusicality via locomotion

Animals communicate acoustically to report location and identity to conspecifics. More complex patterning of calls can also function as displays to potential mates and as territorial advertisement. Music and song are terms often reserved only for humans and birds, but elements of both forms of acoustic display are also found in non-human primates. While theories on proximate functions abound, ultimate drivers of specific call structures are less well understood. We hypothesized that spatio-temporal precision in landing during perilous arboreal locomotion favored the evolution of musical calling in early primates—vastly preceding the origin of more music-like behavior in hominoids and subsequent emergence of music in later hominids. We test this locomotion based hypothesis on the origins of proto-musicality using spectrographic depictions of vocal repertoires of modern day primates and corresponding estimates of locomotor activity. Phylogenetically controlled regression analysis of 54 primate species reveals that arboreal locomotion and monogamy are robust influences on complex calling patterns while controlling for other socioecological variables. Given that these findings rest primarily upon a handful of deep branching points in the primate tree, we conclude that this coevolution likely occurred very slowly, occupying on the order of tens of millions of years.

Do Mobile Phones Help Expand Social Capital? An Empirical Case Study

The rapid adoption of mobile phones, particularly in developing countries, has led a number of researchers to investigate their impact on socioeconomic activity in the developing world. However, until the recent advent of smart communication devices, mobile phones were primarily a relations management technology that enabled people to stay connected with each other. In this article, we focus on this basic function and analyze how people use this technology as a tool to expand their social capital. We use a dataset containing more than three billion call detail records from Rwanda’s largest telecommunication operator, covering the whole country during the period from 1 July 2014 to 31 March 2015, and combine these records with data from the fourth Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda in 2015. We found that people’s calling patterns significantly correlated with the income level of their region, which also dictated the destinations of their calls, with middle-income regions acting as a link between the richest and the poorest regions. From these results, we propose a framework for understanding the role of mobile phones in the development of social capital.

Telephone Survey Calling Patterns, Productivity, Survey Responses, and Their Effect on Measuring Public Opinion

This study examines the effect of telephone survey dialing patterns on lab productivity and survey responses. Using an original data set of paradata from 2010 to 2017 and a machine learning technique for variable selection, we find that early and late afternoon shifts are as productive as late evening shifts for both landline and cellphone Random Digit Dialing (RDD) samples. Also, early weekdays are more productive than the weekend for the cellphone RDD samples. Most importantly, time of the interview affects survey responses; therefore, survey practitioners and scholars should be cognizant of this effect when scheduling calls.

CHORUSING PATTERNS OF A DIVERSE ANURAN COMMUNITY, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SOUTHERN CRAWFISH FROGS (LITHOBATES AREOLATUS AREOLATUS)

Wildlife surveys have a critical role in conservation efforts and the collection of life history data. For anuran amphibians these surveys often focus on calling males. In order to further our understanding of anuran ecology, we used automated recording systems to monitor the calling activities of the anuran communities at two beaver-formed lakes and one cattle pond in southeastern Oklahoma. We documented 14 anuran species between 5 February and 28 April 2012. Temperature had a significant effect on the calling patterns of Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toads (Gastrophryne carolinensis), Green Treefrogs (Hyla cinerea), Gray Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor), Southern Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus areolatus), and Cajun Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris fouquettei). Temperature did not have a significant effect on the calling patterns of Dwarf American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus charlesmithi), American Bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeianus), or Green Frogs (Lithobates clamitans). There was not a significant relationship between rainfall and calling for L. a. areolatus. The presence of several of these species, including L. a. areolatus and Hurter’s Spadefoots (Scaphiopus hurterii) was unusual because these anurans typically breed in ephemeral, fishless pools, but the beaver lakes are permanent and sustain populations of carnivorous fishes.