Meeting Abstract
Recently, the role of ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) in rodent social behavior has become the source of greater investigation, including how complex social interactions effect USV call production. Here we explore the function of California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) USV calls during territorial defense. California mice produce a rich variety of both simple and complex USV calls. In this study we focus on three specific USV call types: Syllable vocalizations (SV), Barks and Phrase-sweeps. SVs contain up to 7 low-bandwidth syllables, a peak frequency of ~20 kHz and an inter-syllable interval up to 350 ms. Males were significantly more likely than females to produce SV calls and produced a greater number of SV calls when presented with an intruder prior to physical contact. Barks are short, intense calls which modulate frequency from 15-25 kHz with strong upper harmonics. These calls were produced by males and females equally, but only occurred during altercations with physical contact, indicating that they may be intrinsically tied to aggression. Phrase -sweeps are a previously undescribed call type, made up of a single, high bandwidth, complex cluster of simple calls with multiple inflection points across the call’s duration. Males produced a greater number of these calls with longer average duration than females. These calls were produced more frequently when physical contact could not be made with an intruder. Associations among the different call types and aggressive behavior will be presented. These data indicate a higher level of complexity in vocal communication of Peromyscus mice than previously thought and provide a launching point for understanding how USV production in rodents is tied to complex social behavior and may be predictive of future behaviors used in territorial defense.
