An article in Sience called "Baby Bats Imitate Dad's Songs" discusses baby talk in bats. Scientists have discovered a species of bats(Saccopteryx bilineata)in which the babies make "baby talk." Researchers have now also concluded that this baby talk is not just random nonsense noises, but is actually an attempt to imitate the songs of males with territories and groups of females. This is a rare discovery since, until recently, only birds, elephants, cetaceans, seals, and humans have been known to exhibit this "complex vocal imitation," which scientists define as "the ability to learn a call or song from a tutor."
This species of bats usually lives in groups consisting of one male and up to eight females. Each female can have one pup each year. Males guard their territories by singing songs. The adult females do not sing songs, but the pups (of both sexes) sing and make plenty of "baby talk."
According to this article, Mirjam Knörnschild, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Ulm in Germany, heard complex vocal imitations while she was studying S. bilineata. It sounded as if the pups were imitating the male's songs, sometimes almost completely. To decide whether the pups were just randomly combining sounds or whether they were actually trying to sing the songs of the male in their group, Knörnschild compared the baby talk of 17 pups ranging in age to the songs of six adult males. She found that as the pups matured, their songs became more like the male's territorial songs. Also, throughout all stages of the pups' lives, they made "buzz syllables" that matched those of the males, showing that they were actually imitating the males.
The similarities between the pups' songs and the male's songs are not just caused by genetics, because the male in each territory doesn't necessarily mate all the females in his group. This proves that the similarities occurred because the pups listened to the songs of the male. Learning these songs is essential for the male pups to be able to attain territories when they are older, and Knörnschild believes females must also learn these songs to be able to choose mates.
This article is so interesting because it illustrates the learned component of communication. A link to the article is posted below:
Posted by Sarah Benjamin (1)
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that's really interesting! does the article say when the bats outgrow the "baby-talk" phase, and when the females stop singing? how long is a bat's lifespan?
ReplyDelete- kristy mcdermott
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ReplyDeleteThis article relates well to our class discussion today. Are there any studies done to show if it is just the song they are listening to and learning or is it also the male's presence that allows the learning of the song? Is there any genetic component to this song learning or is it strictly developmental?
ReplyDeletePosted by Tiffany Mallet
The article did not say at what age the bats outgrow their "baby-talk" phase, or when females stop singing altogether. I would guess that the females stop singing shortly after they learn the songs, when they move to a new territory, since researchers believe the famales only need to learn the songs to be able to choose mates.
ReplyDeleteThe article also didn't mention whether song learning had a genetic component or if it was strictly developmental, or whether the male's presence was necessary. I would be interested in finding out the results of a playback experiment to test whether the male has to be present for the pups to learn his songs or if they can learn the songs simply by hearing them. Also, if pups could be successfully cross-fostered, researchers could also find out whether genetics have much control over song learning.
-Sarah Benjamin