Spontaneous rhythms in a harbor seal pup calls

• Main Author: Andrea Ravignani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2018-01-01
• Series: BMC Research Notes
• Subjects: Bioacoustics; Rhythm; Vocal communication; Vocalization; Animal call; Marine mammal
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13104-017-3107-6

Abstract Objectives Timing and rhythm (i.e. temporal structure) are crucial, though historically neglected, dimensions of animal communication. When investigating these in non-human animals, it is often difficult to balance experimental control and ecological validity. Here I present the first step of an attempt to balance the two, focusing on the timing of vocal rhythms in a harbor seal pup (Phoca vitulina). Collection of this data had a clear aim: To find spontaneous vocal rhythms in this individual in order to design individually-adapted and ecologically-relevant stimuli for a later playback experiment. Data description The calls of one seal pup were recorded. The audio recordings were annotated using Praat, a free software to analyze vocalizations in humans and other animals. The annotated onsets and offsets of vocalizations were then imported in a Python script. The script extracted three types of timing information: the duration of calls, the intervals between calls’ onsets, and the intervals between calls’ maximum-intensity peaks. Based on the annotated data, available to download, I provide simple descriptive statistics for these temporal measures, and compare their distributions.