Vocal mechanisms in birds and bats: a comparative view

Vocal signals play a very important role in the life of both birds and echolocating bats, but these two unrelated groups of flying vertebrates have very different vocal systems. They nevertheless must solve many of the same problems in producing sound. This brief review examines avian and microchiro...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Suthers Roderick A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2004-01-01
Series:Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0001-37652004000200009
Description
Summary:Vocal signals play a very important role in the life of both birds and echolocating bats, but these two unrelated groups of flying vertebrates have very different vocal systems. They nevertheless must solve many of the same problems in producing sound. This brief review examines avian and microchiropteran motor mechanisms for: 1) coordinating the timing of phonation with the vocal motor pattern that controls its acoustic properties, and 2) achieving respiratory strategies that provide adequate ventilation for pulmonary gas exchange, while also facilitating longer duration songs or trains of sonar pulses.
ISSN:0001-3765
1678-2690