Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Experimental Biology
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

supporting biologistsinspiring biology

Journal of Experimental Biology

  • Log in
Advanced search

RSS  Twitter  Facebook  YouTube  

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
Research Article
Evidence of biphonation and source–filter interactions in the bugles of male North American wapiti (Cervus canadensis)
D. Reby, M. T. Wyman, R. Frey, D. Passilongo, J. Gilbert, Y. Locatelli, B. D. Charlton
Journal of Experimental Biology 2016 219: 1224-1236; doi: 10.1242/jeb.131219
D. Reby
Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: reby@sussex.ac.uk
M. T. Wyman
Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
R. Frey
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Berlin 10315, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
D. Passilongo
Department of Science for Nature and Environmental Resources, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
J. Gilbert
Laboratoire d'Acoustique de l'Université du Maine – UMR CNRS, le Mans 72085, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Y. Locatelli
Réserve de la Haute Touche, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Obterre 36290, France
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
B. D. Charlton
School of Biology and Environmental Science, Science Centre West, University College Dublin (UCD), Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & tables
  • Supp info
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF + SI
  • PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

With an average male body mass of 320 kg, the wapiti, Cervus canadensis, is the largest extant species of Old World deer (Cervinae). Despite this large body size, male wapiti produce whistle-like sexual calls called bugles characterised by an extremely high fundamental frequency. Investigations of the biometry and physiology of the male wapiti's relatively large larynx have so far failed to account for the production of such a high fundamental frequency. Our examination of spectrograms of male bugles suggested that the complex harmonic structure is best explained by a dual-source model (biphonation), with one source oscillating at a mean of 145 Hz (F0) and the other oscillating independently at an average of 1426 Hz (G0). A combination of anatomical investigations and acoustical modelling indicated that the F0 of male bugles is consistent with the vocal fold dimensions reported in this species, whereas the secondary, much higher source at G0 is more consistent with an aerodynamic whistle produced as air flows rapidly through a narrow supraglottic constriction. We also report a possible interaction between the higher frequency G0 and vocal tract resonances, as G0 transiently locks onto individual formants as the vocal tract is extended. We speculate that male wapiti have evolved such a dual-source phonation to advertise body size at close range (with a relatively low-frequency F0 providing a dense spectrum to highlight size-related information contained in formants) while simultaneously advertising their presence over greater distances using the very high-amplitude G0 whistle component.

FOOTNOTES

  • Competing interests

    The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

  • Author contributions

    D.R. supervised the research. M.T.W. recorded the vocalisations. D.R., D.P. and M.T.W. performed the acoustical and statistical analyses. R.F. and D.R. performed the anatomical and imaging investigations. J.G. and D.R. performed the acoustical modelling. Y.L. provided the specimen and facilitated imaging investigations. D.R., M.T.W., R.F., J.G., D.P. and B.D.C. wrote the manuscript.

  • Funding

    J.G. was supported by Projet International de Coopération Scientifique grant reference 6188 from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

  • Supplementary information

    Supplementary information available online at http://jeb.biologists.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1242/jeb.131219/-/DC1

  • Data availability

    Supporting data are available on request from the corresponding author.

  • Received September 16, 2015.
  • Accepted February 12, 2016.
  • © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
View Full Text
Previous ArticleNext Article
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

This Issue

Keywords

  • Vocalisation
  • Mating call
  • Elk
  • Deer
  • Formants
  • Whistling

 Download PDF

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Experimental Biology.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Evidence of biphonation and source–filter interactions in the bugles of male North American wapiti (Cervus canadensis)
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Experimental Biology
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Experimental Biology web site.
Share
Research Article
Evidence of biphonation and source–filter interactions in the bugles of male North American wapiti (Cervus canadensis)
D. Reby, M. T. Wyman, R. Frey, D. Passilongo, J. Gilbert, Y. Locatelli, B. D. Charlton
Journal of Experimental Biology 2016 219: 1224-1236; doi: 10.1242/jeb.131219
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Research Article
Evidence of biphonation and source–filter interactions in the bugles of male North American wapiti (Cervus canadensis)
D. Reby, M. T. Wyman, R. Frey, D. Passilongo, J. Gilbert, Y. Locatelli, B. D. Charlton
Journal of Experimental Biology 2016 219: 1224-1236; doi: 10.1242/jeb.131219

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Alerts

Please log in to add an alert for this article.

Sign in to email alerts with your email address

Article navigation

  • Top
  • Article
    • ABSTRACT
    • INTRODUCTION
    • MATERIALS AND METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • Acknowledgements
    • Appendix
    • FOOTNOTES
    • References
  • Figures & tables
  • Supp info
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF + SI
  • PDF

Related articles

Cited by...

More in this TOC section

  • Temporal integration of conflicting directional cues in sound localization
  • Load carrying with flexible bamboo poles: optimization of a coupled oscillator system
  • Communication versus waterproofing: the physics of insect cuticular hydrocarbons
Show more RESEARCH ARTICLE

Similar articles

Other journals from The Company of Biologists

Development

Journal of Cell Science

Disease Models & Mechanisms

Biology Open

Advertisement

Editorial – The changing of the guard

In his Editorial, Hans Hoppeler announces that he will be stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of JEB in July 2020. He reflects on the history of JEB, why he has enjoyed his tenure as JEB’s Editor-in-Chief and the recent developments in the publishing world.


Big Biology podcast

JEB is partnering with the Big Biology podcast and in this sponsored episode, JEB Editor Michael Dickinson talks to the Big Biology team about the aerodynamic mechanisms of insect flight, how insects control flight with their tiny 100k neuron brain and his recent JEB paper showing how fruit flies navigate using the sun and polarized light as a compass.


Editors’ choice – An appetite for invasion: digestive physiology, thermal performance and food intake in lionfish (Pterois spp.)

A lionfish

Invasive lionfish are a colossal problem in the Mediterranean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean. Now it turns out that they are successful invaders because they invest more energy in digestion than moving about.


Travelling Fellowship – Anti-ageing in the Greenland Shark

Group photo of Pierre Delaroche and the team in Greenland

Find out how Pierre Delaroche’s Travelling Fellowship grant from the Journal of Experimental Biology took him to Greenland, where he gathered data to further understand the ageing process in the longest-living vertebrate known to science. Don’t miss the next application deadline for 2020 travel, coming up on 29 November. Where will your research take you?


Commentary – Yank: the time derivative of force is an important biomechanical variable in sensorimotor systems

A diagram showing the multi-scale anatomical structures and processes that determine the magnitude of yank

The derivative of force with respect to time does not have a standard term in physics. In their new Commentary, David C. Lin and his colleagues propose that the term ‘yank’ should be used to denote the time derivative of force.


Inside JEB – Springy ankle tether saves runners

Time-lapse photographs of a runner using the exotendon.

Runners waste energy every time their legs stop swinging, but now a team of scientists from the US and Canada have shown that a springy ankle tether can reduce runners’ energy costs by 6.4%, which is nearly the entire cost of swinging the limbs. Read the full research article here.


JEB partners with Publons!

Journal of Experimental Biology is pleased to announce a new partnership with Publons! This allows reviewers to easily track and verify every review by choosing to add the review to their Publons profile when completing the review submission form. Publons also makes it simple for reviewers to showcase their peer review contributions in a format that can be included in job and funding applications (without breaking reviewer anonymity). Read the official announcement here!


preLights – Oxygenation properties of hemoglobin and the evolutionary origins of isoform multiplicity in an amphibious air-breathing fish, the blue-spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus pectinirostris)

Charlotte Nelson

Charlotte Nelson highlights work in mudskippers suggesting that a diversity in expressed hemoglobin isoforms is not required for the switch between aquatic and aerial respiration.

Articles

  • Accepted manuscripts
  • Issue in progress
  • Latest complete issue
  • Issue archive
  • Archive by article type
  • Special issues
  • Subject collections
  • Interviews
  • Sign up for alerts

About us

  • About JEB
  • Editors and Board
  • Editor biographies
  • Travelling Fellowships
  • Grants and funding
  • Journal Meetings
  • Workshops
  • The Company of Biologists
  • Journal news

For Authors

  • Submit a manuscript
  • Aims and scope
  • Presubmission enquiries
  • Article types
  • Manuscript preparation
  • Cover suggestions
  • Editorial process
  • Promoting your paper
  • Open Access
  • Outstanding paper prize
  • Biology Open transfer

Journal Info

  • Journal policies
  • Rights and permissions
  • Media policies
  • Reviewer guide
  • Sign up for alerts

Contact

  • Contact JEB
  • Subscriptions
  • Advertising
  • Feedback

 Twitter   YouTube   LinkedIn

© 2019   The Company of Biologists Ltd   Registered Charity 277992