Acoustic context and dynamics of nonlinear phenomena in mammalian calls : the case of puppy whines
Massenet, Mathilde ; Pisanski, Katarzyna ; Reynaud, Karine ; Mathevon, Nicolas ; Reby, David and Anikin, Andrey LU
(2025)
In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Abstract
- Nonlinear phenomena (NLP) are often associated with high arousal and function to grab attention and/or signal urgency in vocalizations such as distress calls. Although biomechanical models and in vivo/ex vivo experiments suggest that their occurrence reflects the destabilization of vocal fold vibration under intense subglottal pressure and muscle tension, comprehensive descriptions of the dynamics of NLP occurrence in natural vocal signals are critically lacking. Here, to plug this gap, we report the timing, type, extent and acoustic context of NLP in 12 011 whines produced by Beagle puppies (Canis familiaris) during a brief separation from their mothers. Within bouts of whines, we show that both the proportion of time vocalizing and the... (More)
- Nonlinear phenomena (NLP) are often associated with high arousal and function to grab attention and/or signal urgency in vocalizations such as distress calls. Although biomechanical models and in vivo/ex vivo experiments suggest that their occurrence reflects the destabilization of vocal fold vibration under intense subglottal pressure and muscle tension, comprehensive descriptions of the dynamics of NLP occurrence in natural vocal signals are critically lacking. Here, to plug this gap, we report the timing, type, extent and acoustic context of NLP in 12 011 whines produced by Beagle puppies (Canis familiaris) during a brief separation from their mothers. Within bouts of whines, we show that both the proportion of time vocalizing and the number of whines containing NLP, especially those with chaos, increase with time since separation, presumably reflecting heightened arousal. Within whines, we show that NLP are typically produced during the first half of the call, following the steepest rises in pitch (fundamental frequency, fo) and amplitude. While our study reinforces the notion that NLP arise in calls due to instabilities in vocal production during high arousal, it also provides novel and efficient analytical tools for quantifying nonlinear acoustics in ecologically relevant mammal vocal communication contexts.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Nonlinear phenomena in vertebrate vocalizations: mechanisms and communicative functions’. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/7ef588ed-5711-4e6c-a9a8-caa225c22a97
- author
- Massenet, Mathilde
; Pisanski, Katarzyna
; Reynaud, Karine
; Mathevon, Nicolas
; Reby, David
and Anikin, Andrey
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- nonlinear phenomena, unstable phonation, communicative function, arousal, acoustic analysis
- in
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:40176516
- scopus:105003047465
- ISSN
- 1471-2970
- DOI
- 10.1098/rstb.2024.0022
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 7ef588ed-5711-4e6c-a9a8-caa225c22a97
- date added to LUP
- 2025-04-03 18:39:24
- date last changed
- 2025-05-08 04:02:36
@article{7ef588ed-5711-4e6c-a9a8-caa225c22a97,
abstract = {{Nonlinear phenomena (NLP) are often associated with high arousal and function to grab attention and/or signal urgency in vocalizations such as distress calls. Although biomechanical models and in vivo/ex vivo experiments suggest that their occurrence reflects the destabilization of vocal fold vibration under intense subglottal pressure and muscle tension, comprehensive descriptions of the dynamics of NLP occurrence in natural vocal signals are critically lacking. Here, to plug this gap, we report the timing, type, extent and acoustic context of NLP in 12 011 whines produced by Beagle puppies (Canis familiaris) during a brief separation from their mothers. Within bouts of whines, we show that both the proportion of time vocalizing and the number of whines containing NLP, especially those with chaos, increase with time since separation, presumably reflecting heightened arousal. Within whines, we show that NLP are typically produced during the first half of the call, following the steepest rises in pitch (fundamental frequency, fo) and amplitude. While our study reinforces the notion that NLP arise in calls due to instabilities in vocal production during high arousal, it also provides novel and efficient analytical tools for quantifying nonlinear acoustics in ecologically relevant mammal vocal communication contexts.<br/><br/>This article is part of the theme issue ‘Nonlinear phenomena in vertebrate vocalizations: mechanisms and communicative functions’.}},
author = {{Massenet, Mathilde and Pisanski, Katarzyna and Reynaud, Karine and Mathevon, Nicolas and Reby, David and Anikin, Andrey}},
issn = {{1471-2970}},
keywords = {{nonlinear phenomena; unstable phonation; communicative function; arousal; acoustic analysis}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Acoustic context and dynamics of nonlinear phenomena in mammalian calls : the case of puppy whines}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0022}},
doi = {{10.1098/rstb.2024.0022}},
year = {{2025}},
}