Sea Mammal Research Unit, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LB, UK.
J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2013 Jun;199(6):479-89. doi: 10.1007/s00359-013-0817-7. Epub 2013 May 7.
Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) produce individually distinctive signature whistles that broadcast the identity of the caller. Unlike voice cues that affect all calls of an animal, signature whistles are distinct whistle types carrying identity information in their frequency modulation pattern. Signature whistle development is influenced by vocal production learning. Animals use a whistle from their environment as a model, but modify it, and thus invent a novel signal. Dolphins also copy signature whistles of others, effectively addressing the whistle owner. This copying occurs at low rates and the resulting copies are recognizable as such by parameter variations in the copy. Captive dolphins can learn to associate novel whistles with objects and use these whistles to report on the presence or absence of the object. If applied to signature whistles, this ability would make the signature whistle a rare example of a learned referential signal in animals. Here, we review the history of signature whistle research, covering definitions, acoustic features, information content, contextual use, developmental aspects, and species comparisons with mammals and birds. We show how these signals stand out amongst recognition calls in animals and how they contribute to our understanding of complexity in animal communication.
宽吻海豚（Tursiops truncatus）会发出具有个体独特性的哨声，用以广播发声者的身份。与影响动物所有叫声的声音线索不同，特征哨声是独特的哨声类型，其频率调制模式携带着身份信息。特征哨声的发展受到发声学习的影响。动物会以环境中的哨声作为模型，但会对其进行修改，从而创造出新颖的信号。海豚还会复制其他海豚的特征哨声，有效地向哨声所有者传达信息。这种复制的发生率较低，而且由于副本在参数上存在差异，因此可以识别出副本。圈养海豚可以学会将新的哨声与物体联系起来，并使用这些哨声报告物体的存在或缺失。如果将这种能力应用于特征哨声，那么特征哨声将成为动物中罕见的习得参照信号的例子。在这里，我们回顾了特征哨声研究的历史，涵盖了定义、声学特征、信息含量、语境使用、发展方面以及与哺乳动物和鸟类的物种比较。我们展示了这些信号如何在动物的识别叫声中脱颖而出，以及它们如何帮助我们理解动物通信中的复杂性。
