TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence for simultaneous sound production in the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus)
AU - Tervo, Outi M.
AU - Christoffersen, Mads Fage
AU - Parks, Susan E.
AU - Mbjerg Kristensen, Reinhardt
AU - Teglberg Madsen, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank M. Simon and L. Miller for their help in the data collection, F. Jensen for his help with acoustic localization, and M. Wahlberg for calculating the localization error estimates. P. Tyack, A. Foote, and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful critique to previous versions of this manuscript. Arctic Station, University of Copenhagen, Qeqertarsuaq, is thanked for the logistical support out in the field. Nukissiorfiit, Greenland, is thanked for granting a research leave for M.F.C. This study was funded by A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine McKinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal (grant to R.M.K and O.M.T.) and Oticon Fonden (grant # 08-3469 to Arctic Station, O.M.T.).
PY - 2011/10
Y1 - 2011/10
N2 - Simultaneous production of two harmonically independent sounds, the two-voice phenomenon, is a well-known feature in bird song. Some toothed whales can click and whistle simultaneously, and a few studies have also reported simultaneous sound production by baleen whales. The mechanism for sound production in toothed whales has been largely uncovered within the last three decades, whereas mechanism for sound production in baleen whales remains poorly understood. This study provides three lines of evidence from recordings made in 2008 and 2009 in Disko Bay, Western Greenland, strongly indicating that bowhead whales are capable of simultaneous dual frequency sound production. This capability may function to enable more complex singing in an acoustically mediated reproductive advertisement display, as has been suggested for songbirds, and/or have significance in individual recognition.
AB - Simultaneous production of two harmonically independent sounds, the two-voice phenomenon, is a well-known feature in bird song. Some toothed whales can click and whistle simultaneously, and a few studies have also reported simultaneous sound production by baleen whales. The mechanism for sound production in toothed whales has been largely uncovered within the last three decades, whereas mechanism for sound production in baleen whales remains poorly understood. This study provides three lines of evidence from recordings made in 2008 and 2009 in Disko Bay, Western Greenland, strongly indicating that bowhead whales are capable of simultaneous dual frequency sound production. This capability may function to enable more complex singing in an acoustically mediated reproductive advertisement display, as has been suggested for songbirds, and/or have significance in individual recognition.
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U2 - 10.1121/1.3628327
DO - 10.1121/1.3628327
M3 - Article
C2 - 21973381
AN - SCOPUS:82255167327
SN - 0001-4966
VL - 130
SP - 2257
EP - 2262
JO - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
JF - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
IS - 4
ER -