2014/10/17 by Heike Vester, Vester, Heike, Kurt Hammerschmidt +5
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #FOS: Biological sciences #Marine animal studies overview #Quantitative Methods (q-bio.QM) #Underwater Acoustics Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1410.4711
openalex publication_date 2014/10/17 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Besides humans, several marine mammal species exhibit prerequisites to evolve language: high cognitive abilities, flexibility in vocal production and advanced social interactions. Here, we describe and analyse the vocal repertoire of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephalus melas) recorded in northern Norway. Observer based analysis reveals a complex vocal repertoire with 140 different call types, call sequences, call repetitions and group-specific differences in the usage of call types. Developing and applying a new automated analysis method, the bag-of-calls approach, we find that groups of pilot whales can be distinguished purely by statistical properties of their vocalisations. Comparing inter-and intra-group differences of ensembles of calls allows to identify and quantify group-specificity. Consequently, the bag-of-calls approach is a valid method to specify difference and concordance in acoustic communication in the absence of exact knowledge about signalers, which is common observing marine mammals under natural conditions.