Learned use of an innate sound-meaning association in birds
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68081766%3A_____%2F25%3A00640417" target="_blank" >RIV/68081766:_____/25:00640417 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02855-9" target="_blank" >https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-025-02855-9</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02855-9" target="_blank" >10.1038/s41559-025-02855-9</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Learned use of an innate sound-meaning association in birds
Original language description
Signals in vocal communication systems range from innate to learned. Although innate and learned signals are often assumed to be independent, Darwin speculated that they could be evolutionarily related, with the former being the foundation of the latter even in our own communication system, language. Here we test this hypothesis by studying the vocal communication systems of avian hosts of brood parasites. First, we show that 21 bird species separated by approximately 53 million years of evolution produce structurally similar 'whining' vocalizations towards their respective brood parasites. Exploring the social correlates of whining vocalization production, we find that species that produce this vocalization often exist in areas with dense parasite-host networks, suggesting that its production facilitates interactions among host species. Experiments across three continents show that this vocalization is referential towards brood parasites in multiple host species, that hearing them elicits an innate rapid recruiting response, and that host species from different continents respond equally to the whining vocalizations of each other, indicating that convergent use facilitates cooperative defences across species. Our results provide an example of a referential animal vocalization for which sound production in the correct context is learned but for which hearing it elicits an innate response, representing an intermediate between innate and learned signals.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10602 - Biology (theoretical, mathematical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), Evolutionary biology
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Nature Ecology & Evolution
ISSN
2397-334X
e-ISSN
2397-334X
Volume of the periodical
9
Issue of the periodical within the volume
11
Country of publishing house
GB - UNITED KINGDOM
Number of pages
21
Pages from-to
2103-2115
UT code for WoS article
001586245100001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-105017863738