Abstract
Rhythm is an essential component of human speech and music but very little is known about its evolutionary origin and its distribution in animal vocalizations. We found a regular rhythm in three multisyllabic vocalization types (echolocation call sequences, male territorial songs and pup isolation calls) of the neotropical bat Saccopteryx bilineata. The intervals between element onsets were used to fit the rhythm for each individual. For echolocation call sequences, we expected rhythm frequencies around 6–24 Hz, corresponding to the wingbeat in S. bilineata which is strongly coupled to echolocation calls during flight. Surprisingly, we found rhythm frequencies between 6 and 24 Hz not only for echolocation sequences but also for social vocalizations, e.g. male territorial songs and pup isolation calls, which were emitted while bats were stationary. Fourier analysis of element onsets confirmed an isochronous rhythm across individuals and vocalization types. We speculate that attentional tuning to the rhythms of echolocation calls on the receivers' side might make the production of equally steady rhythmic social vocalizations beneficial.
Highlights
Music is widespread in all human cultures but its evolutionary origin is poorly understood [1]
Our study aims to broaden the knowledge of rhythm in animal vocalizations by investigating whether isochronous rhythms can be found in different vocalization types of bats
A rhythmS between 6 and 20 Hz dominated across individuals as well as across vocalization types: 49.4% of isolation calls (247 out of 500 calls), 41% of territorial songs (59 out of 143 songs) and 57% of echolocation call sequences (19 out of 33 sequences) had a best-fitting rhythm of 6–20 Hz
Summary
Music is widespread in all human cultures but its evolutionary origin is poorly understood [1]. The field of biomusicology attempts to answer questions on the origin and purpose of music by focusing on the physiological, psychological, behavioural and evolutionary aspects of music in a comparative approach. Approach includes human music but musicality as a term for different traits that occur 2 spontaneously and are based on and constrained by biology and cognition in animal vocalizations [2,3]. Our study focuses on rhythm as a musicality trait, probably with multiple evolutionary backgrounds [4]
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