A harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) shows extensive respiratory control in sound production
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| Title: | A harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) shows extensive respiratory control in sound production |
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| Authors: | Diandra Duengen, Yannick Jadoul, Andrea Ravignani |
| Source: | BMC Ecology and Evolution, Vol 25, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2025) |
| Publisher Information: | BMC, 2025. |
| Publication Year: | 2025 |
| Collection: | LCC:Ecology LCC:Evolution |
| Subject Terms: | Bioacoustics, Respiratory production learning, Breathing control, Vocal learning, Animal training, Ecology, QH540-549.5, Evolution, QH359-425 |
| Description: | Abstract The duration of animal vocalizations varies between and within species. Which mammals can learn to control this duration? Such respiratory production learning is a scarcely studied subcomponent of vocal learning. Here, we test the hypothesis that harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are capable of respiratory production learning by testing whether a harbor seal can be trained to i) actively control its vocalization’s duration in two directions (short and long), and ii) exceed the pre-experimental vocalization’s duration (min = 0.202 s, max = 2.621 s). The seal learned to produce uninterrupted vocalizations spanning more than two orders of magnitude in duration, from 79 ms to 9.23 s. Our findings demonstrate a remarkable level of respiratory control in a harbor seal: this respiratory production learning encompasses an extensive range of sound durations and arises at a young age. Producing durations that span such a magnitude is hardly reported in the non-human animal literature; this capacity may be orthogonal to other vocal learning modules and should be tested in more species, both vocal production learners and non-learners. |
| Document Type: | article |
| File Description: | electronic resource |
| Language: | English |
| ISSN: | 2730-7182 |
| Relation: | https://doaj.org/toc/2730-7182 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12862-025-02404-9 |
| Access URL: | https://doaj.org/article/b4465b0f79704abea28340f7423584d8 |
| Accession Number: | edsdoj.b4465b0f79704abea28340f7423584d8 |
| Database: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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Nájsť tento článok vo Web of Science | Abstract: | Abstract The duration of animal vocalizations varies between and within species. Which mammals can learn to control this duration? Such respiratory production learning is a scarcely studied subcomponent of vocal learning. Here, we test the hypothesis that harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are capable of respiratory production learning by testing whether a harbor seal can be trained to i) actively control its vocalization’s duration in two directions (short and long), and ii) exceed the pre-experimental vocalization’s duration (min = 0.202 s, max = 2.621 s). The seal learned to produce uninterrupted vocalizations spanning more than two orders of magnitude in duration, from 79 ms to 9.23 s. Our findings demonstrate a remarkable level of respiratory control in a harbor seal: this respiratory production learning encompasses an extensive range of sound durations and arises at a young age. Producing durations that span such a magnitude is hardly reported in the non-human animal literature; this capacity may be orthogonal to other vocal learning modules and should be tested in more species, both vocal production learners and non-learners. |
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| ISSN: | 27307182 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s12862-025-02404-9 |