Topic: vocal flexibility

Humans, dolphins, and elephants are the only known species that vocally label their conspecifics. It remains unclear whether nonhuman primates share this ability. By recording hundreds of spontaneous “phee-call” dialogues between pairs of marmoset monkeys we discovered that marmosets use these calls to vocally label their conspecifics. Moreover, by using closed-loop playback experiments we found that they respond more consistently and correctly to calls that are specifically directed at them. Analysis of calls from multiple monkeys revealed that family members use similar calls and acoustic fe

Vocal communication is of utmost importance in human and animal interactions. However, little is known regarding the physiological states underlying vocal signaling. It was thought for decades that the ability to decouple emotional states from the vocal output, indicating volitional control of vocalizations, was a clear distinction between humans and non-human primates, whose affective state was supposed to exclusively drive vocal behavior. Additionally, human speech involves a very sophisticated control of breathing with multiple units of sound produced during extended expirations. Novel evid