Forwarded from Clementine Vignal <>:
Bioacoustic papers in PLoS Biology
Dec 2005, Vol. 3 Issue 12, e-386
Ultrasonic Songs of Male Mice
Timothy E. Holy, Zhongsheng Guo
Vocalizations emitted by male mice when encountering female pheromones have
the characteristics of song, including temporal structure and repeated
syllables.
* Open access, freely available online*
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0030386
Audio Supporting information available
Abstract: Previously it was shown that male mice, when they encounter female mice or
their pheromones, emit ultrasonic vocalizations with frequencies ranging over
30–110 kHz. Here, we show that these vocalizations have the characteristics of
song, consisting of several different syllable types, whose temporal sequencing
includes the utterance of repeated phrases. Individual males produce songs with
characteristic syllabic and temporal structure. This study provides a quantitative
initial description of male mouse songs, and opens the possibility of studying song
production and perception in an established genetic model organism.
Clementine Vignal, PhD.
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Kelley Laboratory, Neurobiology and Behavior
913 Fairchild Center for Biological Sciences
Columbia University
1212 Amsterdam avenue, NEW YORK, NY 10027, USA.
tel: 212 854 49 39
e-mail:
home page: http://www.koredump.org/clem
|