Familial differences in earliest
vocal babblings of juvenile songbirds suggests possible genetic basis for
variations
Date: August 18, 2016
Source: Hokkaido University
As human language and birdsong
are both acquired through vocal practice, different patterns emerge among
individuals. These distinctions play an important role in communication and
identification. Until now, however, it was unclear how individual birds learned
slightly different vocal patterns.
The research team uncovered
variances in the earliest practice singing--known as "subsong"--of
zebra finch juveniles, including different temporal patterns between
individuals. Furthermore, these differences were found to be more pronounced
among different families. Experiments also showed that differences persisted
among the juvenile birds even when deafened.
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