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Peer-reviewedCC BYProceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

Dynamic vocal learning in adult marmoset monkeys

  • Nikhil Phaniraj1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
  • Kaja Wierucka10,11,6,9
  • Judith Maria Burkart2,3,12,13,14,6,7,8,9
14 affiliations
  1. 1Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, 3
  2. 2University of Zurich, 1
  3. 3University of Zurich, 2
  4. 4Department of Biology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune
  5. 5Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pune 411008, India
  6. 6Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich
  7. 7Neuroscience Center Zurich (ZNZ), University of Zurich and ETH Zurich
  8. 8Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
  9. 9Winterthurerstrasse 90, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
  10. 10German Primate Center—Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, 4
  11. 11Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg , 37077 Göttingen, Germany
  12. 12University of Zurich, 5
  13. 13Affolternstrasse 6, 800 Zürich, Switzerland
  14. 14Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich
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Abstract

Socially mediated vocal plasticity, such as vocal accommodation, is an important mechanism for maintaining social cohesion and coordination in group-living animals. Yet, the cognitive mechanisms underlying vocal accommodation remain poorly understood. Here we scrutinize the temporal dynamics of vocal accommodation in common marmosets by tracking the vocalizations of pairs during the first two months after pair formation. We show that vocal accommodation in marmoset pairs displayed the following properties: (i) bidirectional learning (i.e. both males and females underwent equal amount of vocal change); (ii) an exponential decrease in vocal distance with time; (iii) sensitivity to initial vocal distance, that is, pairs converged to a higher extent when their vocalizations were initially more dissimilar; and (iv) synchronous dyadic movement through acoustic space. We find that mathematical models capturing these characteristics and accurately simulating the phenomena rely on dynamic template matching. This suggests that marmosets match their vocalizations to an auditory template continuously updated to track changes in partners' vocalizations, a dynamic form of vocal learning. The model thus suggests that vocal convergence is a highly interactive process that may have provided a foundation for more advanced vocal learning in primates, resonating with recent claims about its role in language evolution.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{phaniraj2026dynamic,
  title = {{Dynamic vocal learning in adult marmoset monkeys}},
  author = {Nikhil Phaniraj and Kaja Wierucka and Judith Maria Burkart},
  journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1098/rspb.2026.0743},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.0743},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Dynamic vocal learning in adult marmoset monkeys
AU  - Nikhil Phaniraj
AU  - Kaja Wierucka
AU  - Judith Maria Burkart
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/03
JO  - Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
DO  - 10.1098/rspb.2026.0743
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.0743
AB  - Socially mediated vocal plasticity, such as vocal accommodation, is an important mechanism for maintaining social cohesion and coordination in group-living animals. Yet, the cognitive mechanisms underlying vocal accommodation remain poorly understood. Here we scrutinize the temporal dynamics of vocal accommodation in common marmosets by tracking the vocalizations of pairs during the first two months after pair formation. We show that vocal accommodation in marmoset pairs displayed the following properties: (i) bidirectional learning (i.e. both males and females underwent equal amount of vocal change); (ii) an exponential decrease in vocal distance with time; (iii) sensitivity to initial vocal distance, that is, pairs converged to a higher extent when their vocalizations were initially more dissimilar; and (iv) synchronous dyadic movement through acoustic space. We find that mathematical models capturing these characteristics and accurately simulating the phenomena rely on dynamic template matching. This suggests that marmosets match their vocalizations to an auditory template continuously updated to track changes in partners' vocalizations, a dynamic form of vocal learning. The model thus suggests that vocal convergence is a highly interactive process that may have provided a foundation for more advanced vocal learning in primates, resonating with recent claims about its role in language evolution.
SN  - 0080-4649
SN  - 0962-8452
SN  - 1471-2954
SN  - 2053-9193
ER  -