Female Vocalizations Research Articles

Queerly Productive: Women and Collaboration in Cambridge, University Library MS Ff.1.6

Cambridge, University Library MS Ff. 1. 6 (the Findern manuscript) offers a test case for a speculative exploration of the role of female queer desire in medieval theorizations of textual collaboration, and collaborative manuscript production. I argue that, whereas masculine queer desire is represented as resulting in textual as well as sexual sterility, female queer desire is potentially hyper-productive, with each female body simultaneously an inscribable surface and a prosthetic pen/penis that can inscribe. In the Findern manuscript, the narrative of the mutilated Philomena provides the nexus for multiple interrelating and mutually modifying representations of female vocality, female desire, and female-female relations that range from the supportive to the erotic. The manuscript’s examples of collaboratively produced texts model ways to break away from the hierarchal model of inscriber and inscribed, masculine and feminine, and produce spaces in which desiring female speakers can recuperate from the wounds of the masculine paradigm of textual inscription, and develop their own female-centric modes of erotic expression.

Acoustic Analysis of Novel Female Calls in Japanese Pond Frogs, Pelophylax nigromaculatus and Pelophylax porosus brevipodus

Abstract: In most frogs, males emit calls in the reproductive seasons, whereas females usually do not emit calls. Females of only several frog species have been known to vocalize. I here report female vocalization in two ranid species, Pelophylax nigromaculatus and P. porosus brevipodus in their overlapping reproductive season. Females of these species called in both intraspecific and interspecific interactions. There were no clear differences in acoustic characteristics of female calls between the two species or between interspecific and intraspecific interactions. Based on the situations in which females called, it is implied that functions of the female calls of P. nigromaculatus and P. p. brevipodus are quite different from those of female calls in frogs hitherto reported.

Murder, she spoke: the female voice’s ethics of evocation and spatialisation in the true crime podcast

The female voice in cinema has been discussed throughout film sound theory as persistently de-acousmatised, denied the power of narrative creation and relegated to onscreen, visual space. This paper will contrast this visual containment of female vocalisations with that of the female-hosted podcast, in which nothing is or can be seen. The podcast offers alternative routes of resistance for the female acousmetre, allowing her to maintain her disembodied status. This is poignantly evident in the popular true crime podcast, My Favorite Murder, in which the acousmatic female hosts counter crime film and television’s reliance on images of violated female bodies with purely aural recountings. Through their anti-ocularcentric reliance on the aurally evocative, rather than the visually manifested, these female voices transform themselves and the victims of their discussions into haunting spectres that force listeners to imaginatively reconstruct scenes of female-directed violence, while acknowledging the ethics of their complicity in the propagation and popularisation of these narratives. Thus, the true crime podcast is one potential site of doubled resistance against the de-acousmatisation of female voices and the visualisation of mutilated female bodies; this resistance leads to an ethics of the spectral, a Derridean mourning without end.

Male African elephants discriminate and prefer vocalizations of unfamiliar females

Gaining information about conspecifics via long-distance vocalizations is crucial for social and spatially flexible species such as the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Female elephants are known to discriminate individuals and kin based on acoustic cues. Specifically, females approached the loudspeaker exclusively with playbacks of familiar individuals with high association indexes, intentionally fusing with their affiliates. For males, which are less bonded, gathering social information via vocalizations could still have important implications, but little is known about their vocal discrimination skills. We experimentally tested the ability of male African elephants to discriminate the social rumbles of familiar (from the same population) versus unfamiliar females. Male elephants discriminated and preferentially moved towards the rumbles of unfamiliar females, showing longer attentive reactions and significantly more orientating (facing and approaching the speaker) behavior. The increased orientating response of males towards playbacks of unfamiliar females is converse to the reaction of female subjects. Our results provide evidence that male elephants extract social information from vocalizations, yet with a different intention than females. Accordingly, males might use social cues in vocalizations to assess mating opportunities, which may involve selection to identify individuals or kin in order to avoid inbreeding.

Vocalizations of female frogs contain nonlinear characteristics and individual signatures.

Anuran vocalization is sexually dimorphic, with males doing the bulk of vocalizing. Female vocalization is rare and has been observed in a handful of species, including the concave-eared torrent frog (Odorrana tormota). Females O. tormota have been reported to emit moderate-level calls to attract males. In contrast to males, female’s vocal signals show no evidence of nonlinear phenomena (NLP). However, with females emitting calls so infrequently that this conclusion must be considered tentative in light of the limited supporting data. The present study was undertaken to test the hypotheses that their vocalizations: 1. may not be purely linear, 2. may contain individual signatures, similar to their male counterparts. We recorded 671 calls from six captive gravid females and found that their vocalizations are as complex as male calls, with numerous calls exhibiting complex upward/downward frequency modulations, and 39% of female calls containing at least one component of the NLP, i.e., subharmonics, deterministic chaos, frequency jump, or biphonation. Furthermore, females in captivity tend to call in bouts throughout the day and night, and the call rate varies hourly with a maximum of >10 calls per minute matching the maximum call rate in males. Similar to males, female vocalizations carry individual signatures, and all sound parameters analyzed differ significantly between individuals. This represents the first report ever showing that vocalizations of female anurans: 1. contain NLP, 2. carry individual signatures. Presence of signatures in both the male and female vocalizations opens up the possibility for males (and females) to distinguish individual frogs in both sexes acoustically, and thus their sound communication ability may be more advanced than previously thought.

What's in a squeak? Female vocal signals predict the sexual behaviour of male house mice during courtship

Vocal production can be a two-way channel for the exchange of information between males and females during courtship. Although the ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) of male house mice, Mus musculus, during interactions with females have been a focus of communication research, the vocalizations of females in this context remain poorly understood. During interactions with males, female mice produce audible vocalizations with a broadband harmonic structure (‘broadband vocalizations’, or BBVs) that are often described by human listeners as ‘squeaks’. We tested the hypothesis that the production of BBVs corresponds to male and female behaviours, as well as to contextual variables like oestrous phase, by measuring BBVs, USVs and nonvocal behaviours during 39 unique male–female pairings. We found that the relationship of BBVs to other behaviours depends on the phase of courtship. A high incidence of BBVs accompanied by male-directed kicks and lunges early in interactions predicted a lack of later male mounting and male-produced ‘50 kHz harmonic’ USVs. In contrast, there was significant temporal overlap between BBVs and 50 kHz harmonic USVs at later stages of courtship, potentially driven by mounting events. The duration of acoustically nonlinear segments of BBVs varied significantly among females, even across interactions with different males, but also varied across oestrous phase within females. These findings suggest that vocalizations could play a role in signalling acute female motivational state, identity or oestrous state during opposite-sex interactions. Since the information-bearing features of BBVs are relatively easily measured, they are potentially a useful readout of negative motivational state suitable for many research and educational applications.

Functions of vocalization in sociosexual behaviors in rats (Rattus norvegicus) in a seminatural environment.

Both male and female rats produce vocalizations in the presence of a potential sexual partner. In this study, we evaluated the role of vocalizations in sociosexual behaviors in an ecologically valid procedure. Three males and 4 females were housed in a seminatural environment. In each group, 1 or 2 males and females were devocalized, and the other subjects were sham operated. Sociosexual interactions between males and females were recorded for a period of 1 hr when all 4 females were receptive so that the males had the choice to interact either with vocalizing or with silent females. Devocalized and sham-operated males displayed very similar behavioral patterns. There was no difference in any of the male sexual behavior patterns nor in male-initiated nonsexual social interaction. Female vocalizations do not contribute to the regulation of sociosexual interaction. Devocalized males received as much attention from females as sham-operated males, with the exception of paracopulatory behaviors with short duration, which were more frequently directed toward the sham-operated males than to the devocalized males. This was the case for both silent and vocalizing females. It appears, then, that devocalized males are inferior to sham males with regard to the capacity to induce female paracopulatory behaviors. However, this has no consequence for sexual interaction because devocalized and sham males copulated equally based on the number of mounts, intromissions, and ejaculations. In sum, these data show that vocalizations play a very limited role in rat sociosexual behavior in a seminatural environment. Furthermore, this indicates that vocalizations have no evident function during copulatory interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Listening to female voices in Sikh kirtan

This paper examines sound recordings by female kirtaniye in an effort to redress the absence of women in historical narratives about Punjab. A sustained discussion of listening and performance practices in the Sikh tradition sheds light on the kirtan of Bibi Jaswant Kaur, Khushi Bai, Ajit Kaur, Surinder Kaur, and Tilly Bai, among others. An acousmatic approach calls attention to the expressive voices and disciplined bodies of female kirtaniye as they negotiated the changing terrain of female vocality in and outside of India. Biases against the commercial dissemination of Sikh kirtan are explored in relation to a pervasive cultural anxiety over the intervention of technology and its impact on issues of liveness as it re-configures the unity of the sangat. The myriad ways in which female kirtaniye evoke rasa in their kirtan also raise the contentious issue of whether raag is one of several techniques through which the words of the Sikh Gurus might conjoin with music.

A test of the Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis in three types of tropical forest: degradation of male and female Rufous-and-white Wren songs

Many animals produce complex vocalizations that show pronounced variation between populations. The Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis helps to explain this variation, suggesting that acoustic signals are optimized for transmission through different environments. Little is known about the transmission properties of female vocalizations because most studies of the Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis have focused on male vocalizations of organisms living at temperate latitudes. We explored the relationship between environmental variation and the transmission properties of songs of Rufous-and-white Wrens, resident Neotropical songbirds where both sexes sing. Using playback, we broadcast and re-recorded elements of male and female songs from three populations of wrens living in three different forest habitats in Costa Rica. We measured four variables of the re-recorded sounds: signal-to-noise ratio, excess attenuation, tail-to-signal ratio and blur ratio. Our results show a significant difference between transmission characteristics of both male and female song elements across the three habitats, indicating that sounds transmit differently through different types of tropical forest. The population from which the broadcast sounds were recorded (source population) had little effect on sound transmission, however, suggesting that acoustic differences between these populations may not arise through acoustic adaptation to these habitats. Male and female elements showed similar transmission properties overall, although signal-to-noise ratio of male elements was influenced by source population, whereas blur ratio and excess attenuation of female elements were influenced by source population. Our study highlights the differences in transmission characteristics of animal sounds through different habitats, and reveals some sex differences in transmission properties.

Sexual selection on male vocal fundamental frequency in humans and other anthropoids.

In many primates, including humans, the vocalizations of males and females differ dramatically, with male vocalizations and vocal anatomy often seeming to exaggerate apparent body size. These traits may be favoured by sexual selection because low-frequency male vocalizations intimidate rivals and/or attract females, but this hypothesis has not been systematically tested across primates, nor is it clear why competitors and potential mates should attend to vocalization frequencies. Here we show across anthropoids that sexual dimorphism in fundamental frequency (F0) increased during evolutionary transitions towards polygyny, and decreased during transitions towards monogamy. Surprisingly, humans exhibit greater F0 sexual dimorphism than any other ape. We also show that low-F0 vocalizations predict perceptions of men's dominance and attractiveness, and predict hormone profiles (low cortisol and high testosterone) related to immune function. These results suggest that low male F0 signals condition to competitors and mates, and evolved in male anthropoids in response to the intensity of mating competition.

Elaborate Mimetic Vocal Displays by Female Superb Lyrebirds

Some of the most striking vocalizations in birds are made by males that incorporate vocal mimicry in their sexual displays. Mimetic vocalization in females is largely undescribed, but it is unclear whether this is because of a lack of selection for vocal mimicry in females, or whether the phenomenon has simply been overlooked. These issues are thrown into sharp relief in the superb lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae, a basal oscine passerine with a lek-like mating system and female uniparental care. The spectacular mimetic song display produced by courting male lyrebirds is a textbook example of a sexually selected trait, but the vocalizations of female lyrebirds are largely unknown. Here, we provide the first analysis of the structure and context of the vocalizations of female lyrebirds. Female lyrebirds were completely silent during courtship; however, females regularly produced sophisticated vocal displays incorporating both lyrebird-specific vocalizations and imitations of sounds within their environment. The structure of female vocalizations varied significantly with context. While foraging, females mostly produced a complex lyrebird-specific song, whereas they gave lyrebird-specific alarm calls most often during nest defense. Within their vocal displays females also included a variety of mimetic vocalizations, including imitations of the calls of dangerous predators, and of alarm calls and song of harmless heterospecifics. Females gave more mimetic vocalizations during nest defense than while foraging, and the types of sounds they imitated varied between these contexts, suggesting that mimetic vocalizations have more than one function. These results are inconsistent with previous portrayals of vocalizations by female lyrebirds as rare, functionless by-products of sexual selection on males. Instead, our results support the hypotheses that complex female vocalizations play a role in nest defense and mediate female-female competition for breeding territories. In sum, this study reveals elaborate female vocal displays in a species widely depicted as an example of sexual selection for male extravagance, and thus highlights the hidden complexity of female vocalizations.

Communication at the Garden Fence--Context Dependent Vocalization in Female House Mice.

House mice (Mus musculus) live in social groups where they frequently interact with conspecifics, thus communication (e.g. chemical and/or auditory) is essential. It is commonly known that male and female mice produce complex vocalizations in the ultrasonic range (USV) that remind of high-pitched birdsong (so called mouse song) which is mainly used in social interactions. Earlier studies suggest that mice use their USVs for mate attraction and mate choice, but they could also be used as signal during hierarchy establishment and familiarization, or other communication purposes. In this study we elucidated the vocalization behaviour of interacting female mice over an extended period of time under semi-natural conditions. We asked, if the rate or structure of female vocalization differs between different social and non-social contexts. We found that female USV is mainly used in social contexts, driven by direct communication to an unknown individual, the rate of which is decreased over time by a familiarization process. In addition we could show that female mice use two distinct types of USVs, differing in their frequency, which they use differently depending on whether they directly or indirectly communicate with another female. This supports the notion that vocalization in mice is context dependent, driven by a reasonable and yet underestimated amount of complexity that also involves the interplay between different sensory signals, like chemical and auditory cues.

Experimental Tests of the Function and Flexibility of Song Consistency in a Wild Bird

Measures of bird song that capture aspects of motor performance, such as consistency, have become a major focus in understanding sexual selection on song. Despite accumulating evidence that consistency is related to reproductive success in many species, the relative importance of male–male interactions and female–male interactions is still unclear. We studied the function and flexibility of song consistency and song rate in common yellowthroat warblers (Geothlypis trichas). A previous study of this population found that song consistency—measured as the amount of variability within a bout of songs—was positively correlated with the likelihood of siring extrapair young. In this study, we conducted two experiments aimed at testing (1) the role of song consistency and rate in mediating male–male and male–female interactions and (2) whether song effort is flexibly adjusted to changes in social context. In the first experiment, we simulated a male territorial intrusion with song playbacks that varied in consistency and rate; focal males responded aggressively to playbacks, but their response did not differ with playback consistency or rate. In the second experiment, we presented focal males with a taxidermic female mount and female vocalizations; focal males approached the speaker, but continued to sing and did not perform the aggressive rattle vocalization observed during male encounters. Immediately after the simulated female encounter, focal males increased in song consistency. Taken together, our results are most consistent with the hypothesis that song consistency in common yellowthroats is primarily a female-directed signal that is actively adjusted in response to rapidly changing social conditions.

Ultrasonic vocalizations of female Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in response to social partners.

In many species of animals, male vocalizations function to attract mating partners and coordinate sexual interactions. Whereas male vocalizations have been well studied in several species, the function of female vocalizations in mating contexts is not fully understood. In Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), both males and females produce ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) during sexual encounters with opposite sex partners. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that female vocalizations play a role in sociosexual interactions by examining how rates of 50 kHz USV production vary in relation to the sex and gonadal status of the partner, and by examining whether the proportion of frequency modulated (FM) and constant frequency calls differs between these categories of social partner. The results showed that females produced a higher total number of 50 kHz USVs to intact males than castrated males, and produced similar numbers of calls to both categories of females. Females also produced a higher proportion of FM calls to male partners than to female partners, and spent more time in the vicinity of male than female partners, regardless of the partners' gonadal status. Female USVs therefore potentially provide a measure of sexual motivation and may function to promote female mate choice in this species with multimale mating and a high risk of infanticide.

Observations on the mating behavior of the eastern lowland olingo Bassaricyon alleni (Carnivora: Procyonidae) in the Peruvian Amazon

The behavior of wild olingos is poorly known. From May-Jul 2015, I surveyed nocturnal mammals in southeast Peru and recorded the behavior of olingos. Multiple olingos were observed in close proximity on four occasions: two occasions in which multiple olingos were feeding on the inflorescences of a Parkia pendula tree; an adult and immature olingo traveling together; and a pair of olingos copulating. The copulation lasted at least 142 minutes, and was characterized by the male biting the hind neck and back of the female, constant female vocalizations, and rapid head turning by the female toward the male. Olingos and kinkajous were similarly abundant. These observations offer insight into the behavior of the wild olingo.

Vocalization of sex partners in the house mouse (Mus Musculus)

Acoustic parameters of the house mouse male and female vocalizations accompanying the sexual behavior were studied. The spectral-temporal analysis of female defensive call and male ultrasound call was carried out for adult house mice--hybrids of outbreed strains CBA and C57B1/6. The principal feature of the female defensive call is its harmonic structure formed by three--five main harmonics with the fundamental frequency about 3 kHz. The major energy of the signal is concentrated below 25 kHz. The basic harmonic structure could be modified by frequency and amplitude modulation or/and.noise. Call duration varied widely from 40 up to 470 ms with the average value of 180 ± 70 ins. The principal feature of male ultrasound vocalization is its low intensity and rareness of noise components. Depending on semantic load of the call, its fundamental frequency averaged 67.3 ± 8.5 or 45.6 ± 3.7 kHz. Male ultrasound vocalizations were shorter than female defensive calls and their duration did not exceed 220 ms. Key words: house mouse, acoustic structure of vocalizations, sexual behavior, sound and ultrasound vocalizations of rodents.

Female signalling to male song in the domestic canary, Serinus canaria.

Most studies on sexual selection focus on male characteristics such as male song in songbirds. Yet female vocalizations in songbirds are growing in interest among behavioural and evolutionary biologists because these vocalizations can reveal the female's preferences for male traits and may affect male display. This study was designed to test whether male song performance influences the different female signals in the domestic canary (Serinus canaria). Female canaries were exposed to three types of song performance, differing in the repetition rate of sexy syllables. This experiment demonstrates that female birds are engaged in multimodal communication during sexual interaction. The results support the copulation solicitation hypothesis for female-specific trills: these trills were positively correlated and had a similar pattern to the copulation solicitation displays; responses were higher to the songs with higher performance and responses decreased with the repetition of the stimulation. Also, we observed a sensitization effect with the repetition of the song of the highest performance for the simple calls. Simple trills and other calls were more frequent during the broadcast of canary songs compared with the heterospecific control songs. The differential use of female signals in response to different song performance reveals a highly differentiated female signalling system which is discussed in light of the role of female traits to understand sexual selection in a broader perspective.

An Unusual Song-Like Vocalization Produced by Female Bachman's Sparrows (Peucaea aestivalis)

Abstract We describe a new female vocalization for Peucaea aestivalis (Bachman's Sparrow) that may represent a type of female song. The vocalization has characteristics that are similar to the “excited” or “flight” songs that male P. aestivalis produce, and similar song characteristics can be found among other members of the genus, including one congener for which female singing is common. Two marked female P. aestivalis were observed producing the vocalization as well as four unmarked individuals that were paired with territorial males. A recording of one of these unmarked individuals collected in 1989 is similar to the vocalizations observed for marked females. Field notes collected at the time the recording was made suggested the “odd song” was produced by a female, and we provide a sonogram of this new vocalization based on this recording. The vocalization appears to be rare and may be difficult to link to external stimuli and social function.

A cry for help: female distress calling during copulation is context dependent

Owing to selection for increased mating propensity, males often expose females to sexual harassment. Consequently, females may evolve counterstrategies to retain control of mating. Females can do this directly by resisting copulations, or indirectly by manipulating other males to intervene and prevent the copulation. Uttering copulation calls may be one indirect method for females to trigger male intervention. Copulation calls are commonly observed in mammals, primarily in primates, and also in some birds. Female fowl, Gallus gallus, sometimes utter calls during copulation, particularly in forced copulations with low-ranking males. These loud calls, called distress calls, attract other males and can result in disruption of the copulation, and subsequent mating with the intervening male if he is high ranking. Consequently, uttering such calls can act both to abort a coerced copulation and to generate novel opportunities for females to copulate with higher-ranking males. Nevertheless, uttering loud calls can carry costs, such as attracting predators. Females are therefore predicted to utter copulation calls primarily when doing so offers benefits, which for female fowl requires the presence of another high-ranking male. We tested this prediction by altering the social environment of female domestic fowl, G. g. domesticus. We found that females uttered copulation calls more frequently during copulations in the presence of dominant ‘observer’ males than in their absence. Thus, we provide evidence of context-dependent utterance of female calls during copulations in a bird. This type of female vocalization is rarely investigated in nonprimate vertebrates, but increased research in this field offers potential to improve understanding of female mate choice strategies and the dynamics of sexual selection.

Phenotypic plasticity in nest departure calls: weighing costs and benefits

In birds, male song has been extensively studied, but female vocalizations have received little attention. Females of several North American species produce a unique vocalization, the nest departure call (NDC), upon leaving nests. Producing NDCs has costs due to acoustical properties that make nests easy to locate by predators. Thus, NDCs must also have benefits that balance or outweigh costs, and females should modulate call production as costs and benefits change. We explored whether female song sparrows, Melospiza melodia , adjust calling rate to reflect differential costs and benefits of calling induced by male presence, male quality (measured by body mass and song complexity), nest predator presence and nest height. Results suggest that calls benefit females by promoting male nest guarding and that females display adaptive plasticity in call production. Specifically, calling rate increased when the male was present, and male nest guarding increased when females gave an NDC. Females called less in the presence of a model nest predator, probably because the perceived costs of predator attraction outweighed the benefits of male recruitment. Conversely, females with heavier mates called more, perhaps because the efficacy of male nest guarding increases with mass. In addition, females called more from elevated nests in the presence of the predator and decreased calling later in the day. Male song complexity failed to predict calling rate, suggesting that this sexually selected trait does not reflect direct benefits gained by producing an NDC. Plasticity in calling probably exists because context-appropriate communication elevates fitness, whereas contextual mistakes in the decision to communicate result in fitness declines. • We examined the function of, and plasticity in, nest departure calls of female song sparrows. • Our results suggest that nest departure calls function to promote male nest guarding. • Females appear to balance costs and benefits when plastically adjusting calling rate. • Females called more when the male was present, increasing benefits of calling. • Females called less in the presence of a predator, reducing costs of calling.