Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size
Abstract Vocal activity and signal characteristics of mammals are driven by several factors that result in both stability and plasticity over multiple time scales. All three extant species of manatee communicate with several calls that are especially important for maintaining contact between cows an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23321-7 |
| _version_ | 1797983917150568448 |
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| author | Beth Brady Eric Angel Ramos Laura May-Collado Nelmarie Landrau-Giovannetti Natalija Lace Maria Renee Arreola Gabriel Melo Santos Vera Maria Ferreira da Silva Renata S. Sousa-Lima |
| author_facet | Beth Brady Eric Angel Ramos Laura May-Collado Nelmarie Landrau-Giovannetti Natalija Lace Maria Renee Arreola Gabriel Melo Santos Vera Maria Ferreira da Silva Renata S. Sousa-Lima |
| author_sort | Beth Brady |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Vocal activity and signal characteristics of mammals are driven by several factors that result in both stability and plasticity over multiple time scales. All three extant species of manatee communicate with several calls that are especially important for maintaining contact between cows and calves. Determining if calf calls differ across manatee species will provide insights into the evolution of species-specific acoustic communication traits. We investigated the interspecific differences in the vocalizations of calves of Amazonian manatees (Trichechus inunguis) and the two subspecies of the West Indian manatee (T. manatus). Vocalizations of individual calves were recorded in rehabilitation centers in Brazil, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Mexico. The acoustic structure of calls produced by manatee calves varied between species and with body size. Amazonian manatee calves produced shorter calls with multiple notes at higher frequency while West Indian calves produced modulated calls that were lower in frequency and longer in duration. Smaller West Indian calves produced frequency modulated, hill-shaped calls that flattened with an increase in body length. Our results provide evidence for divergence in the ontogeny of vocalizations across T. manatus and T. inunguis and suggest variation in body size contributed to the evolution of differences in the characteristics of their calls. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:54:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a7f2c05189894d42a7ef93aaf6158b1c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:54:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-a7f2c05189894d42a7ef93aaf6158b1c2022-12-22T04:39:04ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-0112111010.1038/s41598-022-23321-7Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body sizeBeth Brady0Eric Angel Ramos1Laura May-Collado2Nelmarie Landrau-Giovannetti3Natalija Lace4Maria Renee Arreola5Gabriel Melo Santos6Vera Maria Ferreira da Silva7Renata S. Sousa-Lima8Mote Marine LaboratoryThe Rockefeller UniversityUniversity of VermontCaribbean Manatee Conservation Center, Inter American University of Puerto RicoCetalingua ProjectDolphin DiscoveryBiology and Conservation of Amazonian Aquatic Mammals, Federal Rural University of the AmazonLaboratory of Aquatic Mammals, National Institute of Amazonian ResearchLaboratory of Bioacoustics, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Biosciences Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do NorteAbstract Vocal activity and signal characteristics of mammals are driven by several factors that result in both stability and plasticity over multiple time scales. All three extant species of manatee communicate with several calls that are especially important for maintaining contact between cows and calves. Determining if calf calls differ across manatee species will provide insights into the evolution of species-specific acoustic communication traits. We investigated the interspecific differences in the vocalizations of calves of Amazonian manatees (Trichechus inunguis) and the two subspecies of the West Indian manatee (T. manatus). Vocalizations of individual calves were recorded in rehabilitation centers in Brazil, Puerto Rico, the United States, and Mexico. The acoustic structure of calls produced by manatee calves varied between species and with body size. Amazonian manatee calves produced shorter calls with multiple notes at higher frequency while West Indian calves produced modulated calls that were lower in frequency and longer in duration. Smaller West Indian calves produced frequency modulated, hill-shaped calls that flattened with an increase in body length. Our results provide evidence for divergence in the ontogeny of vocalizations across T. manatus and T. inunguis and suggest variation in body size contributed to the evolution of differences in the characteristics of their calls.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23321-7 |
| spellingShingle | Beth Brady Eric Angel Ramos Laura May-Collado Nelmarie Landrau-Giovannetti Natalija Lace Maria Renee Arreola Gabriel Melo Santos Vera Maria Ferreira da Silva Renata S. Sousa-Lima Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size Scientific Reports |
| title | Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size |
| title_full | Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size |
| title_fullStr | Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size |
| title_full_unstemmed | Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size |
| title_short | Manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size |
| title_sort | manatee calf call contour and acoustic structure varies by species and body size |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23321-7 |
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