Long-term and persistent vocal plasticity in adult bats

Daria Genzel, Janki Desai, Elana Paras and Michael M. Yartsev ()
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Daria Genzel: UC Berkeley
Janki Desai: UC Berkeley
Elana Paras: Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley
Michael M. Yartsev: UC Berkeley

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Bats exhibit a diverse and complex vocabulary of social communication calls some of which are believed to be learned during development. This ability to produce learned, species-specific vocalizations – a rare trait in the animal kingdom – requires a high-degree of vocal plasticity. Bats live extremely long lives in highly complex and dynamic social environments, which suggests that they might also retain a high degree of vocal plasticity in adulthood, much as humans do. Here, we report persistent vocal plasticity in adult bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) following exposure to broad-band, acoustic perturbation. Our results show that adult bats can not only modify distinct parameters of their vocalizations, but that these changes persist even after noise cessation – in some cases lasting several weeks or months. Combined, these findings underscore the potential importance of bats as a model organism for studies of vocal plasticity, including in adulthood.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11350-2

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