ArticleiScience2023
Bat vocal sequences enhance contextual information independently of syllable order.
Article in iScience, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Leveraging artificial intelligence in bioacoustics for animal health monitoring and early diagnosis in veterinary medicine.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2026Review
- Vocal sequence diversity and length remain stable across ontogeny in a catarrhine monkey (Cercocebus atys).Communications biology · 2025Article
- The distress context of social calls evokes a fear response in the bat Pipistrellus abramus.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
Many animals, humans included, rely on acoustic vocalizations for communication. The complexity of non-human vocal communication has been under debate one of the main open questions being: What could be the function of multi-syllabic vocal sequences? We address these questions by analyzing fruit-bat vocal communication. We use neural networks to encode the vocalizations, and statistical models to examine the information conveyed by sequences of vocalizations. We show that fruit-bat vocal sequences potentially convey more contextual information than individual syllables, but that the order of the syllables within the sequence is unimportant for context. Specifically, sequences are composed of slightly modified syllables, thus increasing the probability of context-specificity. We note that future behavioral, e.g., playback experiments are needed in order to validate the biological relevance of our statistical results. We hypothesize that such sequences might have served as pre-syntax precursors in the evolution of animal communication.
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