ArticleNature communications2022
Machine learning reveals cryptic dialects that explain mate choice in a songbird.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Singing and Calling Behavior of a Threatened Passerine With Spatially Variable Vocalizations: Individual, Population and Geographic Patterns.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Variation in song structure does not predict associative learning performance in zebra finches (Taeniopygia castanotis) raised under controlled cultural conditions.Animal cognition · 2026Article
- A species rules syntax model accurately organizes birdsong syllables into songs.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Social and spatial drivers of the multitiered structure of zebra finch social networks.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Acoustic Traits of Three Hawaiian Honeycreepers in a Fragmented Landscape.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Bird song comparison using deep learning trained from avian perceptual judgments.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- The use of artificial songs to assess song recognition in imprinted female songbirds: a concept proposal.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Response of forest Turtur doves to conspecific and congeneric songs in sympatry and allopatry.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Differentially private knowledge transfer for federated learning.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Challenges of mismatching timescales in longitudinal studies of collective behaviour.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Mixed-species bird flocks re-assemble interspecific associations across an elevational gradient.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Pairwise and high-order dependencies in the cryptocurrency trading network.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Article
- Responses in adult pied flycatcher males depend on playback song similarity to local population.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Culturally transmitted communication signals - such as human language or bird song - can change over time through cultural drift, and the resulting dialects may consequently enhance the separation of populations. However, the emergence of song dialects has been considered unlikely when songs are highly individual-specific, as in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Here we show that machine learning can nevertheless distinguish the songs from multiple captive zebra finch populations with remarkable precision, and that 'cryptic song dialects' predict strong assortative mating in this species. We examine mating patterns across three consecutive generations using captive populations that have evolved in isolation for about 100 generations. We cross-fostered eggs within and between these populations and used an automated barcode tracking system to quantify social interactions. We find that females preferentially pair with males whose song resembles that of the females' adolescent peers. Our study shows evidence that in zebra finches, a model species for song learning, individuals are sensitive to differences in song that have hitherto remained unnoticed by researchers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.