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Animal vocal sequences : not the Markov chains we thought they were
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Kershenbaum, Arik, Bowles, Ann E., Freeberg, Todd M., Jin, Dezhe Z., Lameira, Adriano R. and Bohn, Kirsten (2014) Animal vocal sequences : not the Markov chains we thought they were. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 281 (1792). 20141370. doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.1370 ISSN 0962-8452.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1370
Abstract
Many animals produce vocal sequences that appear complex. Most researchers assume that these sequences are well characterized as Markov chains (i.e. that the probability of a particular vocal element can be calculated from the history of only a finite number of preceding elements). However, this assumption has never been explicitly tested. Furthermore, it is unclear how language could evolve in a single step from a Markovian origin, as is frequently assumed, as no intermediate forms have been found between animal communication and human language. Here, we assess whether animal taxa produce vocal sequences that are better described by Markov chains, or by non-Markovian dynamics such as the 'renewal process' (RP), characterized by a strong tendency to repeat elements. We examined vocal sequences of seven taxa: Bengalese finches Lonchura striata domestica, Carolina chickadees Poecile carolinensis, free-tailed bats Tadarida brasiliensis, rock hyraxes Procavia capensis, pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus, killer whales Orcinus orca and orangutans Pongo spp. The vocal systems of most of these species are more consistent with a non-Markovian RP than with the Markovian models traditionally assumed. Our data suggest that non-Markovian vocal sequences may be more common than Markov sequences, which must be taken into account when evaluating alternative hypotheses for the evolution of signalling complexity, and perhaps human language origins.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology Q Science > QL Zoology |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Royal Society of London | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0962-8452 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | October 2014 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 281 | ||||||||
| Number: | 1792 | ||||||||
| Article Number: | 20141370 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1098/rspb.2014.1370 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 18 October 2019 | ||||||||
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