Birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago
Abstract Multiple members of the tit and chickadee (= Parid) family combine two classes of calls, F and D, in a rigid order FD. In Japanese tits, FD has been argued on the basis of multiple experiments to involve syntax and non-trivial compositionality. How ancient are these call combinations? We sh...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05497-w |
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| author | Ambre Salis Robin J. Ryder Axel Molina Philippe Schlenker Emmanuel Chemla |
| author_facet | Ambre Salis Robin J. Ryder Axel Molina Philippe Schlenker Emmanuel Chemla |
| author_sort | Ambre Salis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Multiple members of the tit and chickadee (= Parid) family combine two classes of calls, F and D, in a rigid order FD. In Japanese tits, FD has been argued on the basis of multiple experiments to involve syntax and non-trivial compositionality. How ancient are these call combinations? We show that FD combinations (as well as individual F and D calls) are present in nearly all Parid species, and almost absent in their closest relatives, the Remizidae and Stenostiridae. Using phylogenetic tools and ancestral reconstruction methods, we infer that FD combinations very likely emerged between 11 and 26 million years ago in the eastern Himalayas. This result contributes to evolutionary animal linguistics using a comparative phylogenetic approach to reconstruct the evolution of call combinations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4a2fbd42920c4744934ebe8430790213 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-4a2fbd42920c4744934ebe84307902132025-08-20T03:45:30ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-011511910.1038/s41598-025-05497-wBirds combined calls more than 11 million years agoAmbre Salis0Robin J. Ryder1Axel Molina2Philippe Schlenker3Emmanuel Chemla4Département d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut Jean-Nicod (ENS - EHESS - CNRS), PSL UniversityDepartment of Mathematics, Imperial College LondonDépartement d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut Jean-Nicod (ENS - EHESS - CNRS), PSL UniversityDépartement d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Institut Jean-Nicod (ENS - EHESS - CNRS), PSL UniversityDépartement d’Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, LSCP (ENS - EHESS - CNRS), PSL UniversityAbstract Multiple members of the tit and chickadee (= Parid) family combine two classes of calls, F and D, in a rigid order FD. In Japanese tits, FD has been argued on the basis of multiple experiments to involve syntax and non-trivial compositionality. How ancient are these call combinations? We show that FD combinations (as well as individual F and D calls) are present in nearly all Parid species, and almost absent in their closest relatives, the Remizidae and Stenostiridae. Using phylogenetic tools and ancestral reconstruction methods, we infer that FD combinations very likely emerged between 11 and 26 million years ago in the eastern Himalayas. This result contributes to evolutionary animal linguistics using a comparative phylogenetic approach to reconstruct the evolution of call combinations.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05497-wAnimal communicationCombinationEvolutionMobbingSyntaxAncestral signals |
| spellingShingle | Ambre Salis Robin J. Ryder Axel Molina Philippe Schlenker Emmanuel Chemla Birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago Scientific Reports Animal communication Combination Evolution Mobbing Syntax Ancestral signals |
| title | Birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago |
| title_full | Birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago |
| title_fullStr | Birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago |
| title_full_unstemmed | Birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago |
| title_short | Birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago |
| title_sort | birds combined calls more than 11 million years ago |
| topic | Animal communication Combination Evolution Mobbing Syntax Ancestral signals |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05497-w |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ambresalis birdscombinedcallsmorethan11millionyearsago AT robinjryder birdscombinedcallsmorethan11millionyearsago AT axelmolina birdscombinedcallsmorethan11millionyearsago AT philippeschlenker birdscombinedcallsmorethan11millionyearsago AT emmanuelchemla birdscombinedcallsmorethan11millionyearsago |