Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)
Abstract In human infants babbling is an important developmental stage of vocal plasticity to acquire maternal language. To investigate parallels in the vocal development of human infants and non-human mammals, seven key features of human babbling were defined, which are up to date only shown in bat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47919-7 |
| _version_ | 1797398008600461312 |
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| author | Alexandra Langehennig-Peristenidou Daniel Romero-Mujalli Tjard Bergmann Marina Scheumann |
| author_facet | Alexandra Langehennig-Peristenidou Daniel Romero-Mujalli Tjard Bergmann Marina Scheumann |
| author_sort | Alexandra Langehennig-Peristenidou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In human infants babbling is an important developmental stage of vocal plasticity to acquire maternal language. To investigate parallels in the vocal development of human infants and non-human mammals, seven key features of human babbling were defined, which are up to date only shown in bats and marmosets. This study will explore whether these features can also be found in gray mouse lemurs by investigating how infant vocal streams gradually resemble the structure of the adult trill call, which is not present at birth. Using unsupervised clustering, we distinguished six syllable types, whose sequential order gradually reflected the adult trill. A subset of adult syllable types was produced by several infants, with the syllable production being rhythmic, repetitive, and independent of the social context. The temporal structure of the calling bouts and the tempo-spectral features of syllable types became adult-like at the age of weaning. The age-dependent changes in the acoustic parameters differed between syllable types, suggesting that they cannot solely be explained by physical maturation of the vocal apparatus. Since gray mouse lemurs exhibit five features of animal babbling, they show parallels to the vocal development of human infants, bats, and marmosets. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:19:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-572627d44034417a8c13fcc8d7eaf1db |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:19:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-572627d44034417a8c13fcc8d7eaf1db2023-12-10T12:15:16ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-12-0113111210.1038/s41598-023-47919-7Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)Alexandra Langehennig-Peristenidou0Daniel Romero-Mujalli1Tjard Bergmann2Marina Scheumann3Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine HannoverInstitute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine HannoverInstitute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine HannoverInstitute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine HannoverAbstract In human infants babbling is an important developmental stage of vocal plasticity to acquire maternal language. To investigate parallels in the vocal development of human infants and non-human mammals, seven key features of human babbling were defined, which are up to date only shown in bats and marmosets. This study will explore whether these features can also be found in gray mouse lemurs by investigating how infant vocal streams gradually resemble the structure of the adult trill call, which is not present at birth. Using unsupervised clustering, we distinguished six syllable types, whose sequential order gradually reflected the adult trill. A subset of adult syllable types was produced by several infants, with the syllable production being rhythmic, repetitive, and independent of the social context. The temporal structure of the calling bouts and the tempo-spectral features of syllable types became adult-like at the age of weaning. The age-dependent changes in the acoustic parameters differed between syllable types, suggesting that they cannot solely be explained by physical maturation of the vocal apparatus. Since gray mouse lemurs exhibit five features of animal babbling, they show parallels to the vocal development of human infants, bats, and marmosets.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47919-7 |
| spellingShingle | Alexandra Langehennig-Peristenidou Daniel Romero-Mujalli Tjard Bergmann Marina Scheumann Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) Scientific Reports |
| title | Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) |
| title_full | Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) |
| title_fullStr | Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) |
| title_short | Features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) |
| title_sort | features of animal babbling in the vocal ontogeny of the gray mouse lemur microcebus murinus |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47919-7 |
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