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Within-population acoustic variation of European red deer Cervus elaphus follows two empirically established common rules: Rule 1: suggesting similar-pitched stag and hind calls because of potential prevalence of natural over sexual selection on call pitch; and Rule 2: predicting lower-pitched calls in adults, because larger vocal folds normally produce lower-pitched calls in mammals. We found that both rules were supported for native Pannonian red deer from Central Europe. All fundamental frequency () parameter values of hind contact calls (for the exclusion of the beginning ) were indistinguishable from those of stag rutting roars. These results agree with published data on vocalization of male and female American and Asian wapiti Cervus canadensis. Calls of adults of either sex were lower in frequency than calf calls. These results disagree with data collected from adult and young American wapiti producing same-frequency calls, probably because of a distinctive mechanism of sound production (whistling).

Injury of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) remains the most common cause leading to limited knee function and earlier development of gonarthrosis. The results of ACL repair in male and female patients remain heterogeneous. Women have worse results of surgical treatment, as well as higher risks of ACL injuries (from 1,5 to 10 times) when playing sports. It is assumed that the features of the anatomical structure of the knee play the key role in this joint. We have studied 40 unpaired anatomical preparations of the human knee joint obtained from women and men.The morphometry of the distal femoral epiphysis was performed using a digital sliding caliper according to 16 parameters. When examining the areas of femoral ACL attachment, their shape, size, area, and center distance from individual bone structures were assessed. The data obtained were correlated with the type of structure of the knee joint. Were studied the anatomical features characteristic of the "female" type of structure of the knee joint. It was found that the type of structure of the knee joint affects the topography of the femoral attachment area of the ACL, which must be taken into account in anatomical ligament reconstruction.

Background Rodents are thought to be produced their human-audible calls (AUDs, below 20 kHz) with phonation mechanism based on vibration of the vocal folds, whereas their ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs, over 20 kHz) are produced with aerodynamic whistle mechanism. Despite of different production mechanisms, the acoustic parameters (duration and fundamental frequency) of AUDs and USVs change in the same direction along ontogeny in collared lemming Dicrostonyx groenlandicus and fat-tailed gerbil Pachyuromys duprasi. We hypothesize that this unidirectional trend of AUDs and USVs is a common rule in rodents and test whether the AUDs of yellow steppe lemmings Eolagurus luteus would display the same ontogenetic trajectory (towards shorter and low-frequency calls) as their USVs, studied previously in the same laboratory colony. Results We examined for acoustic variables 1200 audible squeaks emitted during 480-s isolation-and-handling procedure by 120 individual yellow steppe lemmings (at 12 age classes from neonates to breeding adults, 10 individuals per age class, up to 10 calls per individual, each individual tested once). We found that the ontogenetic pathway of the audible squeaks, towards shorter and lower frequency calls, was the same as the pathway of USVs revealed during 120-s isolation procedure in a previous study in the same laboratory population. Developmental milestone for the appearance of mature patterns of the squeaks (coinciding with eyes opening at 9–12 days of age), was the same as previously documented for USVs. Similar with ontogeny of USVs, the chevron-like squeaks were prevalent in neonates whereas the squeaks with upward contour were prevalent after the eyes opening. Conclusion This study confirms a hypothesis of common ontogenetic trajectory of call duration and fundamental frequency for AUDs and USVs within species in rodents. This ontogenetic trajectory is not uniform across species.

Colonial lagomorphs warn conspecifics of potential danger with alarm calls encoding information about attributes of presumptive predators as well as the caller. In this study, we show that alarm calls of Daurian pikas, Ochotona dauurica (Pallas, 1776), encode information about caller identity. We recorded the alarm calls produced toward a surrogate predator (researcher), slowly moving (0.5–1 km/h) between densely distributed colonies. The alarm calls of most (32 of the 35) callers started in the ultrasonic range at 22.41 kHz on average and rapidly decreased to 3.88 kHz on average at call end. Call duration was very short (0.057 s on average). The accuracy of classifying alarm calls to correct callers with discriminant function analysis (DFA) was 93.71% for the manually measured set of 12 acoustic variables and 95.43% for the semiautomatically measured set of 12 acoustic variables; in both cases exceeding the level of chance (17.28% or 17.33%, respectively). Nonlinear vocal phenomena (biphonations) only were detected in one individual. We discuss the relationship between vocal traits, individuality, vocal production mechanisms, and functions, of pika alarm calls. We propose a potential divergence of alarm calls in Asian pikas to high-frequency whistles (> 20 kHz in Daurian pikas) and in American pikas to low-frequency emissions (0.4–1.3 kHz in Ochotona princeps) during the evolutionary radiation of pikas at the center of the origin of lagomorphs in East Asia and their subsequent geographic dispersal.

Among ruminants, some species of cervids, bovids and camelids are capable of producing very high-frequency (HF) calls potentially produced by the aerodynamic whistle mechanism. We analysed the HF c...

In domestic dogs Canis familiaris, vocal traits have been investigated for barks and growls, and the relationship between individual body size and vocal traits investigated for growls, with less corresponding information for whines. In this study, we examined the frequency and temporal traits of whines of 20 adult companion dogs (9 males, 11 females), ranging in body mass from 3.5 to 70.0 kg and belonging to 16 breeds. Dog whines (26–71 per individual, 824 in total) were recorded in conditioned begging contexts modeled by dog owners. Whines had 3 independent fundamental frequencies: the low, the high and the ultra-high that occurred singly as monophonic calls or simultaneously as 2-voice biphonic or 3-voice polyphonic calls. From the smallest to largest dog, the upper frequency limit varied from 0.24 to 2.13 kHz for the low fundamental frequency, from 2.95 to 10.46 kHz for the high fundamental frequency and from 9.99 to 23.26 kHz for the ultra-high fundamental frequency. Within individuals, the low fundamental frequency was lower in monophonic than in biphonic whines, whereas the high fundamental frequency did not differ between those whine types. All frequency variables of the low, high, and ultra-high fundamental frequencies correlated negatively with dog body mass. For duration, no correlation with body mass was found. We discuss potential production mechanisms and sound sources for each fundamental frequency; point to the acoustic similarity between high-frequency dog whines and rodent ultrasonic calls and hypothesize that ultra-high fundamental frequencies function to allow private, “tete-a-tete” communication between members of social groups.

The Vietnamese pygmy dormouse is a small, arboreal, nocturnal, blind rodent that uses incipient echolocation to navigate in tree canopies. In order to assess its arboreal faculties in relation to echolocative capacity, the present study investigated the locomotor and postural behavior of the species in a simulated arboreal environment within an enclosure. The study subjects were intensively video and audio recorded and the two sets of data were synchronized for subsequent analyses. This is the first study on the positional behavior and substrate use of the Vietnamese pygmy dormice. Our results showed that the species spent most of its time on arboreal substrates, mostly traveling and scanning. Locomotion was dominated by vertical climb and leap, occurring mostly on small vertical and on medium and large strongly inclined substrates, respectively. Locomotion and substrate type were strongly related to emission of echolocative pulses. These findings most likely suggest that echolocation compensates for poor vision to effectively negotiate highly challenging arboreal constraints, and are in favor of the arboreal origins of pygmy dormice. Moreover, such a scenario could also support the echolocation-first hypothesis for the emergence of echolocation in bats prior to active flight.

Despite the advantages of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), associated toxicity is a serious complication that renders monitoring of the patients’ response to NACT highly important. Thus, prediction of tumor response to treatment is imperative to avoid exposure of potential non-responders to deleterious complications. We have performed genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation by XmaI-RRBS and selected CpG dinucleotides differential methylation of which discriminates luminal B breast cancer samples with different sensitivity to NACT. With this data, we have developed multiplex methylation sensitive restriction enzyme PCR (MSRE-PCR) protocol for determining the methylation status of 10 genes (SLC9A3, C1QL2, DPYS, IRF4, ADCY8, KCNQ2, TERT, SYNDIG1, SKOR2 and GRIK1) that distinguish BC samples with different NACT response. Analysis of these 10 markers by MSRE-PCR in biopsy samples allowed us to reveal three top informative combinations of markers, (1) IRF4 and C1QL2; (2) IRF4, C1QL2, and ADCY8; (3) IRF4, C1QL2, and DPYS, with the areas under ROC curves (AUCs) of 0.75, 0.78 and 0.74, respectively. A classifier based on IRF4 and C1QL2 better meets the diagnostic panel simplicity requirements, as it consists of only two markers. Diagnostic accuracy of the panel of these two markers is 0.75, with the sensitivity of 75% and specificity of 75%.

A retractable larynx and adaptations of the vocal folds in the males of several polygynous ruminants serve for the production of rutting calls that acoustically announce larger than actual body size to both rival males and potential female mates. Here, such features of the vocal tract and of the sound source are documented in another species. We investigated the vocal anatomy and laryngeal mobility including its acoustical effects during the rutting vocal display of free‐ranging male impala (Aepyceros melampus melampus) in Namibia. Male impala produced bouts of rutting calls (consisting of oral roars and interspersed explosive nasal snorts) in a low‐stretch posture while guarding a rutting territory or harem. For the duration of the roars, male impala retracted the larynx from its high resting position to a low mid‐neck position involving an extensible pharynx and a resilient connection between the hyoid apparatus and the larynx. Maximal larynx retraction was 108 mm based on estimates in video single frames. This was in good concordance with 91‐mm vocal tract elongation calculated on the basis of differences in formant dispersion between roar portions produced with the larynx still ascended and those produced with maximally retracted larynx. Judged by their morphological traits, the larynx‐retracting muscles of male impala are homologous to those of other larynx‐retracting ruminants. In contrast, the large and massive vocal keels are evolutionary novelties arising by fusion and linear arrangement of the arytenoid cartilage and the canonical vocal fold. These bulky and histologically complex vocal keels produced a low fundamental frequency of 50 Hz. Impala is another ruminant species in which the males are capable of larynx retraction. In addition, male impala vocal folds are spectacularly specialized compared with domestic bovids, allowing the production of impressive, low‐frequency roaring vocalizations as a significant part of their rutting behaviour. Our study expands knowledge on the evolutionary variation of vocal fold morphology in mammals, suggesting that the structure of the mammalian sound source is not always human‐like and should be considered in acoustic analysis and modelling., Male impala retract the larynx while producing their impressive rutting roars. The low fundamental frequency of these roars is produced by a highly modified vocal fold, a ‘vocal keel’. The anatomical and acoustical correlates of male impala's mobile larynx are discussed.

Potential of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to reflect a degree of discomfort of a caller is mostly investigated in laboratory rats and mice but poorly known in other rodents. We examined 36 (19 male, 17 female) adult yellow steppe lemmings Eolagurus luteus for presence of USVs during 8-min experimental trials including 2-min test stages of increasing discomfort: isolation, touch, handling and body measure. We found that 33 of 36 individuals vocalized at isolation stage, i.e., without any human impact. For 14 (6 male and 8 female) individuals, a repeated measures approach revealed that increasing discomfort from isolation to handling stages resulted in increase of call power quartiles and fundamental frequency, whereas call rate remained unchanged. We discuss that, in adult yellow steppe lemmings, the discomfort-related changes of USV fundamental frequency and power variables follow the same common rule as the audible calls of most mammals, whereas call rate shows a different trend. These data contribute to research focused on searching the universal acoustic cues to discomfort in mammalian USVs.

This study investigates a population of red deer Cervus elaphus, founded by 10 individuals introduced in the nineteenth century from Germany to the Voronezh region of the European part of Southern Russia and then developed without further introductions. We characterize for the first time the vocal phenotype of the Voronezh red deer male rutting calls in comparison with similar data on the Pannonian (native Central European) and Iberian (native West European) red deer obtained by the authors during preceding studies. In addition, we provide for the first time the genetic data on Pannonian red deer. In Voronezh stags, the number of roars per bout (2.85 ± 1.79) was lower than in Pannonian (3.18 ± 2.17) but higher than in Iberian (2.11 ± 1.71) stags. In Voronezh stags, the duration of main (the longest within bouts) roars was longer (2.46 ± 1.14 s) than in Pannonian (1.13 ± 0.50 s) or Iberian (1.90 ± 0.50 s) stags. The maximum fundamental frequency of main roars was similar between Voronezh (175 ± 60 Hz) and Pannonian (168 ± 61 Hz) but higher in Iberian stags (223 ± 35 Hz). Mitochondrial cytochrome b gene analysis of red deer from the three study populations partially supports the bioacoustical data, of closer similarity between Voronezh and Pannonian populations. In contrast, microsatellite DNA analysis delineates Voronezh red deer from either Pannonian or Iberian red deer. We discuss that population bottlenecking might affect the acoustics of the rutting roars, in addition to genotype.

Acoustic individuality is present in diverse taxa of mammals and birds, becoming especially prominent in those age groups for which discriminating conspecifics by voice is critically important. This study compares, for the first time, the ontogenetic changes of acoustic individuality of ultrasonic and audible calls (USVs and AUDs) across 12 age-classes (from neonates to adults) in captive yellow steppe lemmings Eolagurus luteus. We found that, in this rodent species, the isolation-induced USVs and AUDs are not individually distinct at any age. We discuss that this result is unusual, because discriminating individuals by individualistic vocal traits may be important for such a social species as yellow steppe lemming. We also discuss the potential role of acoustic individuality in studies including rodent models.

Passive acoustic monitoring is an actual tool for population monitoring at conservation and tourist areas. This study provides detailed knowledge of roaring activity of male Far-East wapiti (Cervus elaphus xanthopygus) in the rut period of 2017 at three sites of most active rut at the 453.4 km2 territory of the State Nature Reserve «Bolshekhekhtsirsky» (Far East of Russia). Rutting calls were recorded for 5 min/h throughout the 58-day rut period by using three automated recording devices, one in each site, with simultaneous registration of temperature, once per hour. In total, we recorded 3474 rutting calls (1538, 1159 and 777 calls in the three sites respectively). In each site, the roaring activity (calculated as the mean daily number of calls/h) demonstrated a similar dynamic of three rut phases: start phase, active phase and fading phase. Although the roaring activity displayed a positive correlation between sites, the actual values of the mean number of calls/h differed between sites. This finding indicates the different use of the three sites by males during the rut. At any site, the roaring activity was related to time of day (hourly); it was the highest between 03:00 a.m. and 06:00 a.m. and nearly lacked between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. At any site, the number of calls/h increased steadily from 8:00 p.m. to 03:00 a.m. to a maximum value and then rapidly decreased from 06:00 to 09:00 a.m. to a minimum value. The effect of temperature on the daily and hourly roaring activity was weaker than the effect of time of day. We discuss the results with similar data of another protected Russian population of Far-East wapiti inhabiting the State Nature Reserve «Ussuriysky».

Distribution area and taxonomic borders within the species complex Spermophilus erythrogenys sensu lato remain questionable. Early evidence suggests that red-cheeked ground squirrels of Southeast Kazakhstan are remarkably different in terms of the acoustic structure of their alarm calls from the red-cheeked ground squirrels of the Kurgan region in Russia. In this study, we analyzed the differences in the acoustic structure of the alarm call and mitochondrial DNA (complete control region, 1005-1006 bp and complete cytochrome b gene, 1140 bp) in 3 populations of red-cheeked ground squirrels (Tara, Altyn-Emel and Balkhash), all located within areas isolated by geographical barriers in Southeast Kazakhstan. We found that the alarm call variables were similar between the 3 study populations and differed by the maximum fundamental frequency (8.46 ± 0.75 kHz) from the values (5.62 ± 0.06 kHz) reported for the red-cheeked ground squirrels from the Kurgan region of Russia. Variation in mtDNA control region was only 3% and variation in cytochrome b gene was only 2.5%. Phylogenetic trees based on cytochrome b gene polymorphism of 44 individuals from the study area and adjacent territories indicated 3 clades with high (98-100%) bootstrap support: "intermedius," "brevicauda" and "iliensis"). We conclude that the 3 study populations in Southeast Kazakhstan belong to the clade intermedius and suggest a taxonomical revision of the species complex Spermophilus erythrogenys sensu lato, including analyses of nuclear DNA and alarm calls for populations of the brevicauda and iliensis clades.

The acoustics of male rutting roars, aside from genetic markers, are useful tools for characterization of populations and subspecies of red deer Cervus elaphus. This study of rutting mature male Pannonian red deer from Southern Hungary presents a description of the calling posture, a graphical reconstruction of the oral vocal tract length during rutting roar production and a spectrographic analyses of 1740 bouts containing a total of 5535 rutting roars. In addition, this study provides the first direct comparison of the bouts and main (=longest) rutting roars between Pannonian and Iberian red deer stags, representative of the Western and Eastern lineages of European red deer. The bouts of the Pannonian stags comprised 1–15 roars per bout; 24.37% were single-roar bouts and 23.68% were two-roar bouts. The duration of the main roars within bouts ranged from 0.52s to 4.60s, 1.13±0.50s on average. Main common roars (66.3% of the 1740 main roars), were longer than harsh roars (1.27±0.55s vs 0.87±0.25s) and higher in maximum fundamental frequency (179 ± 61 Hz vs 147 ± 54 Hz). In multi-roar bouts, main harsh roars were first roars in 47.4%, intermediate roars in 19.2% and last roars in 18.8% of the bouts. Bout structure and the acoustics of main roars in the Pannonian stags differed from those in the Iberian stags and in stags from other populations of Cervus elaphus. These results support the power of rutting vocalizations for consideration as an additional tool for discriminating populations and subspecies within Cervus elaphus.

Relationships between individualization and the acoustics of contact calls in ungulate mother and young are different between taxa. We compared the acoustic variables and individuality of adult female and neonate goitred gazelles Gazella subgutturosa. Discriminant function analysis based on six acoustic variables of nasal (closed-mouth) contact calls similarly accurately classified calls to neonate and adult individuals in spite of the prominent differences in the acoustic resonances (formants) and the mean fundamental frequency of their calls. In addition, we found prominent differences in duration, mean fundamental frequency and frequencies of the first four formants between nasal and oral (open-mouth) contact calls within and between adult and neonate age-classes. We discuss the effects on the acoustics of call production mode (oral versus nasal) and the relationship of acoustic differences and individuality in mother and young contact calls across species of ruminants (Bovidae and Cervidae).

Among Gerbillinae rodents, ultrasonic calls of adults of small-sized species are typically higher frequency than those of adults of large-sized species. This study investigates whether a similar relationship can be found in pups of six gerbil species ( Dipodillus campestris , Gerbillus perpallidus , Meriones unguiculatus , Meriones vinogradovi , Sekeetamys calurus and Pachyuromys duprasi ). We compared the average values of acoustic variables (duration, fundamental and peak frequency) of ultrasonic calls (20 calls per pup, 1200 in total) recorded from 6- to 10-day-old pups (10 pups per species, 60 in total) isolated for 2 min at 22°C and then weighed and measured for body variables. The longest calls (56 ± 33 ms) were found in the largest species, and the highest frequency calls (74.8 ± 5.59 kHz) were found in the smallest species. However, across species, call duration (ranging from 56 to 159 ms among species) did not display a significant relationship with pup body size; and, among frequency variables, only the minimum fundamental frequency depended on pup body size. Discriminant analysis assigned 100% of calls to the correct species. The effect of species identity on the acoustics was stronger than the effect of body size. We discuss these results with the hypotheses of acoustic adaptation, social complexity, hearing ranges and phylogeny.

BackgroundThe rutting vocal display of male impalaAepyceros melampusis unique for its complexity among ruminants. This study investigates bouts of rutting calls produced towards potential mates and rival males by free-ranging male impala in Namibia. In particular, a comparison of male rutting and alarm snorts is conducted, inspired by earlier findings of mate guarding by using alarm snorts in male topiDamaliscus lunatus.ResultsRutting male impala produced 4–38 (13.5 ± 6.5) rutting calls per bout. We analyzed 201 bouts, containing in total 2709 rutting calls of five types: continuous roars produced within a single exhalation-inhalation cycle; interrupted roars including few exhalation-inhalation cycles; pant-roars distinctive by a pant-phase with rapidly alternating inhalations and exhalations; usual snorts lacking any roar part; and roar-snorts starting with a short roar part. Bouts mostly started and ended with usual snorts. Continuous roars were the shortest roars. The average duration of the exhalatory phase was longest in the continuous roars and shortest in the pant-roars. The average fundamental frequency (49.7–51.4 Hz) did not differ between roar types. Vocal tract length, calculated by using measurements of the first four vocal tract resonances (formants), ranged within 381–382 mm in all roar types. In the studied male impala, rutting snorts within bouts of rutting calls were longer and had higher values of the upper quartile in the call spectra than alarm snorts produced towards potential danger.ConclusionsAdditional inhalations during the emission of the interrupted and pant-roars prolong their duration compared to the continuous roars but do not affect the fundamental frequency or the degree of larynx retraction while roaring. Alarm snorts are separated from one another by large intervals, whereas the intervals between rutting snorts within bouts are short. Sometimes, rutting snorts alternate with roars, whereas alarm snorts do not. Therefore, it is not the acoustic structure of individual snorts but the temporal sequence and the occasional association with another call type that defines snorts as either rutting or alarm snorts. The rutting snorts of male impala may function to attract the attention of receptive females and delay their departure from a male’s harem or territory.

This study investigates a population of red deer Cervus elaphus, founded by 10 individuals introduced in the nineteenth century from Germany to the Voronezh region of the European part of Southern Russia and then developed without further introductions. We characterize for the first time the vocal phenotype of the Voronezh red deer male rutting calls in comparison with similar data on the Pannonian (native Central European) and Iberian (native West European) red deer obtained by the authors during preceding studies. In addition, we provide for the first time the genetic data on Pannonian red deer. In Voronezh stags, the number of roars per bout (2.85 ± 1.79) was lower than in Pannonian (3.18 ± 2.17) but higher than in Iberian (2.11 ± 1.71) stags. In Voronezh stags, the duration of main (the longest within bouts) roars was longer (2.46 ± 1.14 s) than in Pannonian (1.13 ± 0.50 s) or Iberian (1.90 ± 0.50 s) stags. The maximum fundamental frequency of main roars was similar between Voronezh (175 ± 60 Hz) and Pannonian (168 ± 61 Hz) but higher in Iberian stags (223 ± 35 Hz). Mitochondrial cytochrome b gene analysis of red deer from the three study populations partially supports the bioacoustical data, of closer similarity between Voronezh and Pannonian populations. In contrast, microsatellite DNA analysis delineates Voronezh red deer from either Pannonian or Iberian red deer. We discuss that population bottlenecking might affect the acoustics of the rutting roars, in addition to genotype.

Ontogeny of audible and ultrasonic calls is poorly studied in Gerbillinae rodents. In this study, analysis of calls, emitted by pup and adult fat-tailed gerbils Pachyuromys duprasi during 420-s isolation-and-handling procedures, allowed testing two hypotheses. Hypothesis1 predicted that audible squeaks and clicks follow the same ontogenetic pathway (towards higher-frequency and shorter calls) that has been previously documented for the ultrasonic calls of fat-tailed gerbil. Hypothesis2 predicted that the audible call types would alternate with the ultrasonic call types along ontogeny in this species. Hypothesis1 was tested with comparison of acoustic variables of audible calls (squeaks and clicks), emitted by 1-10-day old pups and by adults. Clicks of 8.3-8.7 kHz and high-frequency squeaks of 1.92-3.57 kHz were present in pups and adults, whereas mid-frequency squeaks of 0.31-0.67 kHz and low-frequency squeaks of 0.04-0.11 kHz were only present in pups. In agreement with Hypothesis1, pup high-frequency squeaks were longer, lower in fundamental frequency and higher in peak frequency. Against predictions, clicks did not differ acoustically between pups and adults. Hypothesis2 was tested with comparison of percentages of test trials containing the audible and/or ultrasonic call types of pups, repeatedly tested in 15 age classes along ontogeny from 1 to 40 days of age and in adults. The audible calls occurred in all age classes, whereas the ultrasonic calls emerged from day five of pup life and then prevailed over the audible squeaks in all age classes. We discuss that, in fat-tailed gerbil, ontogenetic pathways of acoustic variables of audible and ultrasonic calls (towards higher-frequency and shorter calls) are unusual for rodents although are typical for social and echolocation calls of bats. The is another parallelism of acoustic communication between bats and rodents aside from the recently discovered similarity between bat ultrasonic echolocation and echo-based navigation with bouts of ultrasonic calls in blind leaping rodents.

Background Usher syndrome (USH) is heterogeneous in nature and requires genetic test for diagnosis and management. Mutations in USH associated genes are reported in some populations except Russians. Here, we first time represented the mutation spectrum of a Russian USH cohort. Methods Twenty-eight patients with USH were selected from 3214 patients from Deaf-Blind Support Foundation "Con-nection" during 2014-2016 following the observational study NCT03319524. Complete ophthalmologic, ENT, and vestibular medical tests were done for clinical characterization. NGS, MLPA, and Sanger sequencing were considered for genetic analysis. Results Around 53.57% and 39.28% patients had USH1 and USH2, respectively; 17.85% cases (n = 5/28) had no known mutation. Eleven (73.33%) subjects showed variations in USH1 associated genes MYO7A (72.72%), CDH23 (9.09%), PCDH15 (9.09%), and USH1C (9.09%). Eleven mutations are detected in MYO7A where 54.54% are novel. MYO7A: p.Q18* was most frequent (27.27%) mutation and is associated with early manifestation and most severe clinical picture. Two novel mutations (p.E1301* and c.158-?_318+?del) are detected in PCDH15 gene. Around 90.90% patients suspected to be USH2 are confirmed by genetic testing. Eleven mutations detected in the USH2A gene, where 27.27% were novel. Most common USH2A mutation is p.W3955* (50%) followed by p.E767fs, p.R1653*, and c.8682-9A> G (20% each). Conclusion The Russian USH cohort shows both novel and known USH mutations. Clinically the prevalence of USH2 is low (39.28%) and the frequency of MYO7A mutations responsible for USH1B is very high (63.63%, N = 7/11) compared to other cohorts. These seven patients carrying MYO7A mutations are preliminarily eligible for the UshStat® gene therapy.

The peculiar acoustic structure of ultrasonic bouts of blind climbing rodents Typhlomys might provide insight on their potential function. We examined 1481 bouts consisting of 1-6 pulses; 49.7% of ...

This study discovered a novel acoustic phenotype in Calsyntenin2 deficient knockout (Clstn2-KO) pups in the neurodevelopment period of 5-9 postnatal days (PND 5-9). The narrowband ultrasonic calls (nUSVs) were less complex (mostly one-note, shorter in duration and higher in peak frequency) in Clsnt2-KO than in wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 J pups. The wideband ultrasonic calls (wUSVs) were produced substantially more often by Clstn2-KO than WT pups. The clicks were longer in duration and higher in peak frequency and power quartiles in Clstn2-KO pups. The elevated discomfort due to additional two-minute maternal separation coupled with experimenter's touch, resulted in significantly higher call rates of both nUSVs and clicks in pups of both genotypes and sexes compared to the previous two-minute maternal separation, whereas the call rate of wUSVs was not affected. In Clstn2-KO pups, the prevalence of emission of wUSVs retained at both sex and both degrees of discomfort, thus providing a reliable quantitative acoustic indicator for this genetic line. Besides the acoustic differences, we also detected the increased head-to-body ratio in Clstn2-KO pups. Altogether, this study demonstrated that lack of such synaptic adhesion protein as calsyntenin2 affects neurodevelopment of vocalization in a mouse as a model organism.

The ability to identify emotional arousal in heterospecific vocalizations may facilitate behaviors that increase survival opportunities. Crucially, this ability may orient inter-species interactions, particularly between humans and other species. Research shows that humans identify emotional arousal in vocalizations across multiple species, such as cats, dogs, and piglets. However, no previous study has addressed humans’ ability to identify emotional arousal in silver foxes. Here, we adopted low- and high-arousal calls emitted by three strains of silver fox—Tame, Aggressive, and Unselected—in response to human approach. Tame and Aggressive foxes are genetically selected for friendly and attacking behaviors toward humans, respectively. Unselected foxes show aggressive and fearful behaviors toward humans. These three strains show similar levels of emotional arousal, but different levels of emotional valence in relation to humans. This emotional information is reflected in the acoustic features of the calls. Our data suggest that humans can identify high-arousal calls of Aggressive and Unselected foxes, but not of Tame foxes. Further analyses revealed that, although within each strain different acoustic parameters affect human accuracy in identifying high-arousal calls, spectral center of gravity, harmonic-to-noise ratio, and F0 best predict humans’ ability to discriminate high-arousal calls across all strains. Furthermore, we identified in spectral center of gravity and F0 the best predictors for humans’ absolute ratings of arousal in each call. Implications for research on the adaptive value of inter-specific eavesdropping are discussed.

Ground squirrels emit species-specific alarm calls that, among other characteristics, differ by the number of elements. Unlike some species that produce single-element calls, e.g., the Speckled ground squirrel (Spermophilus suslicus), individual European ground squirrels (S. citellus) frequently emit binary-element calls in addition to single-element calls. We tested the hypothesis that the time stability of individuality encoded in alarm calls might be better retained by complicating their acoustic structure by adding extra elements. In a semi-captive colony of individually marked European ground squirrels, we repeatedly recorded alarm calls that were produced towards a human by 12 adult (2 males and 10 females) live-trapped animals. Repeated recordings occurred within time spans of a few hours, 2 days and 1 year from the first recording. Our results showed that individual calls were highly similar within recordings, but less similar between recordings separated by time spans. Individual differences were best retained when we used nine acoustic variables from both elements. The differences were worse when we used nine variables from only the first element and worst when we used nine variables from only the second element. These results supported the caller reliability hypothesis for species that produce multiple-note alarms, e.g., the Richardson’s ground squirrel (S. richardsonii).

Neonate ruminants produce distress calls when captured by a predator and discomfort milk begging calls when hungry. In many neonate ruminants, the distress and discomfort calls are high-frequency vocalizations, in which the fundamental frequency is the key variable for recognition of their emotional arousal by caregivers. In contrast, in this study, we examine the low-frequency open-mouth distress and discomfort calls in the neonates of two species of wild-living ungulates, which clearly highlight vocal tract resonances (formants). In the goitred gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), the distress calls were higher in fundamental frequency (f0) and in the first and third formants than the discomfort calls. The accuracy of classifying individuals by variables of distress calls with discriminant function analysis (67%) was significantly lower than that of discomfort calls (85%). In the saiga (Saiga tatarica), only the third formant was higher in the distress calls than in the discomfort calls. The accuracy of classifying individuals by variables of distress calls (89%) did not differ significantly from that of discomfort calls (94%). Thus, the use of acoustic cues to vocal identity and to the degree of arousal differs between the two species. Calls were significantly more individualistic in the saiga, probably because this species lives in large herds and neonates use a ‘following’ antipredatory strategy, in which vocal individuality is crucial for mother–offspring communication. In contrast, goitred gazelles live in smaller groups and neonates use a ‘hiding’ antipredatory strategy. Accordingly, mothers can rely on additional environmental cues for spotting their young and this may decrease the necessity for individualization of the calls of neonates.

The pronouncedly enlarged and descended larynx in male goitred gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa), Mongolian gazelles (Procapra gutturosa) and fallow deer (Dama dama) represents an interesting parallel to the 'Adam's apple' of human males. Goitred gazelles, as humans, are not born with a descended larynx. Therefore the sexual dimorphism of larynx size and position develops during ontogeny. In this study, the vocal ontogeny of male and female goitred gazelles was investigated across five age classes from neonates to adults. The acoustic variables of nasal contact calls were measured in 53 (24 male, 29 female) individuals, body mass and neck dimensions in 63 (31 male, 32 female) live individuals and nasal vocal tract and vocal fold lengths in 26 (16 male, 10 female) anatomical specimens. Call fundamental frequency (f0), the acoustic correlate of the ontogenetically enlarging larynx, decreased significantly in either sex. Call formants (second, third and forth), the acoustic correlates of the ontogenetically elongating vocal tract, did not differ significantly between sexes up to early adulthood, but clearly diverged in adults. Significant differences between sexes in neck circumference at the level of the larynx emerged already at 2-3 months of age, whereas body mass, neck circumference at the neck-body transition and the degree of larynx descent significantly differed in adults only. We discuss that, in contrast to humans, the accelerated enlargement of the larynx in male goitred gazelles starts early in ontogeny. A moderate descent of the larynx develops equally in both sexes before early adulthood, whereas the additional prominent descent of the larynx in males is shifted to late ontogeny. This might avoid selective disadvantages of this sexually dimorphic trait on males during their period of growth. As has been previously proved for humans, the emergence of the strong male-specific descent of the larynx in goitred gazelles may go along with the increasing social status and the males' increasing chances of siring offspring. Similar to the Adam's apple of human males, this may indicate the important role of the enlarged and descended larynx for signaling male status via masculine voice.

Whereas low-frequency bellows (below 200 Hz) have been investigated in detail in both male and female domestic cattle (Bos taurus), male high-frequency bugle calls (over 800 Hz) have not been described so far in any large bovid species. In this study, high-frequency bugles and low-frequency bellows were recorded from three crossbred free-ranging domestic cattle bulls and analysed spectrographically. The maximum fundamental frequency of bellows was 113.6 Hz, whereas the maximum fundamental frequency of bugles was 958.4 Hz, ranging from 801 to 1125 Hz in different males. These amazingly high fundamental frequencies of bull bugles are comparable with those reported for Siberian wapiti Cervus elaphus sibiricus, but lower than reported values for some subspecies of North American wapiti Cervus canadensis. The similarity with both Siberian and North American wapiti was also observed in the production of bull biphonic bugles with two fundamental frequencies: the low and the high one. We suggest that bugl...

Objectives This is the first study of the sonic and ultrasonic vocalization in a Dipodidae rodent. For the small-sized quadrupedal northern birch mouse Sicista betulina, phylogenetically related to the bipedal jerboas (Dipodidae), we report null results for ultrasonic vocalization and investigate the acoustic cues to individual identity, sex and body size in the discomfort-related high-frequency tonal sonic calls. Results We used a parallel audio recording in the sonic and ultrasonic ranges during weighting adult northern birch mice before the scheduled hibernation in captivity. The sonic (audible) high-frequency tonal calls (ranging from 6.21 to 9.86 kHz) were presented in all individuals (7 males and 4 females). The ultrasonic calls lacked in the recordings. Two-way nested ANOVA revealed the effects of caller individual identity on all 10 measured acoustic variables and the effects of sex on four out of 10 measured acoustic variables. Discriminant function analyses with 10 acoustic variables included in the analysis showed 85.5% correct assignment of calls to individual and 79.7% correct assignment of calls to sex; both values significantly exceeded the random values (23.1% and 54.3%, respectively) calculated with randomization procedure. Body mass did not differ between sexes and did not correlate significantly with the acoustic variables.

Alarm calls of ground squirrels are innate signals, showing substantial geographical variation across populations without the masking effects of sex and age- related variation. This makes them a convenient model for studying population genetic effects on the evolution of alarm communication. We compared data on the alarm call structure and the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) complete control region (C-region) (998–1002 bp) polymorphism in the same 90 individual speckled ground squirrels (Spermophilus suslicus) across 6 populations (15 individuals per population), separated by distances from 12 to 1274 km. We calculated acoustic distances between each pair of populations based on acoustic variables of alarm calls, averaged for each individual using Euclidean distances of population centroids, in the space of canonical axes of discriminant function analysis. Genetic distances ranged of 0–1.1% within populations and of 0.5–4.9% between populations. Prominent differences were found between eastern and western populations separated by the Dnieper River. Both genetic and acoustic distances showed a significant positive correlation with geographical among populations. Positive correlation between acoustic and genetic distances did not reach significance. These results support effects of ecological selection on the alarm call variables rather than the genetic drift hypothesis. In addition, these results support the current taxonomic separation between subspecies of speckled ground squirrels differing in diploid chromosome sets 2n = 34 (Spermophilus suslicus guttatus) and 2n = 36 (Spermophilus suslicus odessanus).

This study quantitatively documents the progressive development of sexual dimorphism of the vocal organs along the ontogeny of the goitred gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). The major, male-specific secondary sexual features, of vocal anatomy in goitred gazelle are an enlarged larynx and a marked laryngeal descent. These features appear to have evolved by sexual selection and may serve as a model for similar events in male humans. Sexual dimorphism of larynx size and larynx position in adult goitred gazelles is more pronounced than in humans, whereas the vocal anatomy of neonate goitred gazelles does not differ between sexes. This study examines the vocal anatomy of 19 (11 male, 8 female) goitred gazelle specimens across three age-classes, that is, neonates, subadults and mature adults. The postnatal ontogenetic development of the vocal organs up to their respective end states takes considerably longer in males than in females. Both sexes share the same features of vocal morphology but differences emerge in the course of ontogeny, ultimately resulting in the pronounced sexual dimorphism of the vocal apparatus in adults. The main differences comprise larynx size, vocal fold length, vocal tract length, and mobility of the larynx. The resilience of the thyrohyoid ligament and the pharynx, including the soft palate, and the length changes during contraction and relaxation of the extrinsic laryngeal muscles play a decisive role in the mobility of the larynx in both sexes but to substantially different degrees in adult females and males. Goitred gazelles are born with an undescended larynx and, therefore, larynx descent has to develop in the course of ontogeny. This might result from a trade-off between natural selection and sexual selection requiring a temporal separation of different laryngeal functions at birth and shortly after from those later in life. J. Morphol. 277:826-844, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Rodent pups vocalize when placed in social isolation. We apply a method of “joint calls” for examining discomfort in rodent pup ultrasonic (>20 kHz) calls. Previously, this method has been developed for audible calls of fur farm mammals. Using a repeated measures design to exclude effects of individual identity and age on the analysed variables, we compared the ultrasonic call variables produced by 8–40-day pups of fat-tailed gerbils Pachyuromys duprasi during two subsequent experimental stages, the Isolation Stage and the Handling Stage. We considered that discomfort-related negative emotional arousal increased towards the Handling Stage compared to the Isolation Stage because of cumulative effects of handling and time of pup isolation from the nest. At the Isolation Stage, the call rate (calls/s) was higher from 10 to 18 days of age, whereas both the maximum amplitude frequency and power quartiles of joint calls were lower than at the Handling Stage from 20 to 32 days of age. At the same time, i...

Stag rutting calls are strongly different among subspecies of red deer Cervus elaphus. Studying sex-, age- and subspecies-related vocal variation may highlight the forces driving the evolution of vocal communication in this species after their expansion from Central Asia to Europe and North America, however, this information was lacking so far for any Asian subspecies of Cervus elaphus. We analysed frequency, temporal and power variables of contact and bugle calls, collected from 63 Siberian wapiti Cervus elaphus sibiricus, the most abundant Asian subspecies of red deer. The open-mouth (oral) and closed-mouth (nasal) contact calls were registered in all sex and age-classes, whereas the open-mouth bugles were found in both stags and hinds but not in the calves. The maximum fundamental frequency (f0max) of contact calls was similar between calves and hinds. Similarly to American subspecies, the small differences of f0 between calls of the young and adults in C. e. sibiricus suggests only a minor ontogenetic decrease of call fundamental frequency compared to European subspecies of red deer. At the same time, the call f0 of all sex and age-classes of C. e. sibiricus was substantially higher compared to those of European subspecies of red deer (C. e. hippelaphus, C. e. corsicanus, C. e. italicus and C. e. hispanicus), although lower than in any studied American subspecies (C. e. roosevelti and C. e. canadensis). These findings provide vocal cues to indicate subspecies of Cervus elaphus, in addition to existing molecular and morphological traits.

Ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) of laboratory rodents may serve as age-dependent indicators of emotional arousal and anxiety. Fast-growing Arvicolinae rodent species might be advantageous wild-type animal models for behavioural and medical research related to USV ontogeny. For the yellow steppe lemming Eolagurus luteus, only audible calls of adults were previously described. This study provides categorization and spectrographic analyses of 1176 USV calls emitted by 120 individual yellow steppe lemmings at 12 age classes, from birth to breeding adults over 90 days (d) of age, 10 individuals per age class, up to 10 USV calls per individual. The USV calls emerged since 1st day of pup life and occurred at all 12 age classes and in both sexes. The unified 2-min isolation procedure on an unfamiliar territory was equally applicable for inducing USV calls at all age classes. Rapid physical growth (1 g body weight gain per day from birth to 40 d of age) and the early (9-12 d) eyes opening correlated with the early (9-12 d) emergence of mature vocal patterns of USV calls. The mature vocal patterns included a prominent shift in percentages of chevron and upward contours of fundamental frequency (f0) and the changes in the acoustic variables of USV calls. Call duration was the longest at 1-4 d, significantly shorter at 9-12 d and did not between 9-12-d and older age classes. The maximum fundamental frequency (f0max) decreased with increase of age class, from about 50 kHz in neonates to about 40 kHz in adults. These ontogenetic pathways of USV duration and f0max (towards shorter and lower-frequency USV calls) were reminiscent of those in laboratory mice Mus musculus.

[Objectives]: Studying animal vocal aging has potential implication in the field of animal welfare and for modeling human voice aging. The objective was to examine, using a repeated measures approach, the between-year changes of weight, social discomfort score (bites of other hinds on hind pelt), body condition score (fat reserves) and acoustic variables of the nasal (closed-mouth) and the oral (open-mouth) contact calls produced by farmed red deer hinds (Cervus elaphus) toward their young. [Results]: Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that with an increase of hind age for 1 year, the acoustic variables of their nasal contact calls (the beginning and maximum fundamental frequencies, the depth of frequency modulation and the peak frequency) decreased, whereas in their oral contact calls only the end fundamental frequency decreased. Duration and power quartiles did not change in any call type. Body weight and body condition score increased between years, whereas discomfort score decreased. Results of this study revealed directly the short-term effects of aging on the acoustics of the nasal contact calls in the same hinds. This study also confirmed that elevated emotional arousal during emission of the oral contact masks the effects of aging on vocalization in female red deer., This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Grant No 14-14-00237 (to IV, OS and EV) for collection of acoustic data and acoustic analysis, and by Spanish Ministry of Economy (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad) within the Estate program of Research, Innovation and Development oriented towards Challenges of Society, co-funded by the European Union (Reference Number RTC-2016-5327-2) (to TL, JPB, AG and LG) for collection of body weight, condition and discomfort data.

The ability of adult and subadult piebald shrews ( Diplomesodon pulchellum ) to produce 160 Hz seismic waves is potentially reflected in their vocal ontogeny and ear morphology. In this study, the ontogeny of call variables and body traits was examined in 11 litters of piebald shrews, in two-day intervals from birth to 22 days (subadult), and ear structure was investigated in two specimens using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). Across ages, the call fundamental frequency (f0) was stable in squeaks and clicks and increased steadily in screeches, representing an unusual, non-descending ontogenetic pathway of f0. The rate of the deep sinusoidal modulation (pulse rate) of screeches increased from 75 Hz at 3–4 days to 138 Hz at 21–22 days, probably relating to ontogenetic changes in contraction rates of the same muscles which are responsible for generating seismic vibrations. The ear reconstructions revealed that the morphologies of the middle and inner ears of the piebald shrew are very similar to those of the common shrew ( Sorex araneus ) and the lesser white-toothed shrew ( Crocidura suaveolens ), which are not known to produce seismic signals. These results suggest that piebald shrews use a mechanism other than hearing for perceiving seismic vibrations.