A
study by the University of Torino led by Dr Marco Gamba, which is the
first of its kind, has linked the shape of primates’ vocal tracts with
call identification.
The team looked at three different species
of lemur, using techniques normally restricted to analysing human vocal
patterns, to examine what makes their calls distinctive. They first
constructed computer simulations to show how resonan
ce
in the airways may affect nasal calls, basing their measurements on
frozen specimens (but testing them against the calls of live lemurs).
Dr Gamba found that the key way of identifying the species of lemur
(when using vocal signals only) was by looking at the “formants” of the
call. Formants, the vocal tract resonance, are usually the key
distinctions between human languages.
This research has shown
that just like humans, the length of the lemurs’ vocal tracts was the
main factor in the differences between calls. These subtle changes in
sound allow the identification of a species, even within a genus. JB
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/
A
study by the University of Torino led by Dr Marco Gamba, which is the
first of its kind, has linked the shape of primates’ vocal tracts with
call identification.
The team looked at three different species of lemur, using techniques normally restricted to analysing human vocal patterns, to examine what makes their calls distinctive. They first constructed computer simulations to show how resonan
The team looked at three different species of lemur, using techniques normally restricted to analysing human vocal patterns, to examine what makes their calls distinctive. They first constructed computer simulations to show how resonan
ce
in the airways may affect nasal calls, basing their measurements on
frozen specimens (but testing them against the calls of live lemurs).
Dr Gamba found that the key way of identifying the species of lemur (when using vocal signals only) was by looking at the “formants” of the call. Formants, the vocal tract resonance, are usually the key distinctions between human languages.
This research has shown that just like humans, the length of the lemurs’ vocal tracts was the main factor in the differences between calls. These subtle changes in sound allow the identification of a species, even within a genus. JB
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/
Dr Gamba found that the key way of identifying the species of lemur (when using vocal signals only) was by looking at the “formants” of the call. Formants, the vocal tract resonance, are usually the key distinctions between human languages.
This research has shown that just like humans, the length of the lemurs’ vocal tracts was the main factor in the differences between calls. These subtle changes in sound allow the identification of a species, even within a genus. JB
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/
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