Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES / CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
Equipe Cognition Auditive et Psychoacoustique / CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University Lyon 1, Bron, France.
Commun Biol. 2022 Aug 25;5(1):869. doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03799-7.
Ambient noise is a major constraint on acoustic communication in both animals and humans. One mechanism to overcome this problem is Spatial Release from Masking (SRM), the ability to distinguish a target sound signal from masking noise when both sources are spatially separated. SRM is well described in humans but has been poorly explored in animals. Although laboratory tests with trained individuals have suggested that SRM may be a widespread ability in vertebrates, it may play a limited role in natural environments. Here we combine field experiments with investigations in captivity to test whether crocodilians experience SRM. We show that 2 species of crocodilians are able to use SRM in their natural habitat and that it quickly becomes effective for small angles between the target signal source and the noise source, becoming maximal when the angle exceeds 15. Crocodiles can therefore take advantage of SRM to improve sound scene analysis and the detection of biologically relevant signals.
环境噪声是动物和人类声学通讯的主要限制因素。一种克服这个问题的机制是空间掩蔽释放（Spatial Release from Masking，SRM），即在两个声源空间分离时，能够从掩蔽噪声中区分目标声音信号的能力。SRM 在人类中得到了很好的描述，但在动物中研究得很少。尽管实验室对受过训练的个体进行的测试表明，SRM 可能是脊椎动物中广泛存在的一种能力，但它在自然环境中可能发挥的作用有限。在这里，我们结合野外实验和圈养研究来测试鳄鱼是否会经历 SRM。我们表明，两种鳄鱼能够在其自然栖息地中使用 SRM，并且当目标信号源和噪声源之间的角度较小时，它很快变得有效，当角度超过 15 度时达到最大值。因此，鳄鱼可以利用 SRM 来改善声音场景分析和对生物相关信号的检测。
