Abstract
Although communication capabilities are displayed by many vertebrate groups, some repertoires are poorly known, such as the case of xenarthrans, particularly armadillos, for which vocalization as a source of communicating to others remains poorly understood and relies on punctual reports of sounds. Here we provide the first description of a behavioral response associated with sound emission of two subjects of Dasypus novemcinctus. Both audio and visual registration was performed to subsequent analyses of expressed behaviors and emitted calls, which accounted for 76 vocalizations from a total of eight video recordings randomly collected from 2017 to 2019. Sound is acoustically characterized by both inhale and exhale phases composed of two vocal units, and no harmonic structure was observed. Once the subjects have always produced these vocalizations while cornered and exhibiting defensive behavior against another subject/human disturbance, these vocalizations were termed as distress. Subjects produced a hiss-purr-like sound while trying to avoid contact with another by bowing or lowering their bodies, humping, or even moving elsewhere when sound production ceased. This shows that the sound repertoire of armadillos is still to be unveiled and seems to be much more complex than previously thought.
Highlights
Acoustics within the biological field regards the science knows as Bioacoustics, which aims at studying the production, dispersion, and recep‐ tion of sound by/to animals (Lubis et al, 2016) whose cognitive and social skills are much re‐ vealed by the development level of their acous‐ tic communication behavior (Ladich & Winkler, 2017)
Dasypus novemcinctus vocalizations are characterized by the presence of two phases, each composed of two vocal units or notes: A: inhale phase
This study identified two vocal units/notes for the two analyzed subjects of D. novemcinctus: an inhale phase, which is emitted over a wide frequency band re‐ sembling a “hiss” sound, and an exhale phase, which is emitted over the same frequency band and resem‐ bles a low “hiss” sound ending in low-frequency pulses of “purr” like sound
Summary
Acoustics within the biological field regards the science knows as Bioacoustics, which aims at studying the production, dispersion, and recep‐ tion of sound by/to animals (Lubis et al, 2016) whose cognitive and social skills are much re‐ vealed by the development level of their acous‐ tic communication behavior (Ladich & Winkler, 2017). Communication can be defined as the way one mind affects another (Shannon & Weaver, 1949), which is achieved by vocalization as the sound produced by means of the respiratory sys‐ tem of a vertebrate animal, typically by the action of vocal cords (Köhler et al, 2017) either triggered spontaneously and/or by a response when the an‐ imal is handled (Cooper & Vierck‐Jr., 1986). These acoustic repertoires are produced under certain behavioral circumstances, from distressful.
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