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Publications

Journal Article Ahead of print 2 citations

PubMed: 41721371 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-026-02528-4

Call combination order and iterations may shift meaning in sooty mangabey vocal sequences.

BMC Biol

Authors: Auriane Le Floch, Cédric Girard-Buttoz, Christof Neumann, Tanit Souha Azaiez, Natacha Bande, Roman M Wittig, Klaus Zuberbühler, Catherine Crockford

Affiliations

  • Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut Des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France. Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Taï Chimpanzee Project, IRL 2041 ChiMP4IC CNRS, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Taï Monkey Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • Taï Chimpanzee Project, IRL 2041 ChiMP4IC CNRS, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, UMR 5292, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
  • Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
  • Department of Primate Cognition, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
  • Leibniz Science Campus Primate Cognition, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
  • Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Taï Chimpanzee Project, IRL 2041 ChiMP4IC CNRS, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Taï Monkey Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut Des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France.
  • Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
  • Taï Monkey Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland.
  • Ape Social Mind Lab, Institut Des Sciences, Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France.
  • Taï Chimpanzee Project, IRL 2041 ChiMP4IC CNRS, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifique en Côte d'Ivoire, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Human language expands meaning through the structured combination of sounds, but such mechanisms remain rare in nonhuman animals, raising questions about their evolution. Shifts in meaning from single calls to combinations appear across a range of combinations and contexts in apes, but current evidence from other species is mainly restricted to alarm contexts. To address this, we applied a quantitative, whole-repertoire approach to assess meaningful combinatorial capacities in sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys), a forest-dwelling monkey.

RESULTS

We recorded 1751 vocal utterances from two groups in the Taï National Park, Ivory Coast. Using context of production as a proxy for potential meaning, we focused on two mechanisms: (1) bigrams-sequences of two different calls, and (2) iteration-reoccurrence of the same call type interspersed with others. Euclidean distance analyses suggested order-sensitive meaning in female bigrams combining 'grunt' and 'twitter' calls. Whereas single 'grunts', 'twitters' and the bigram 'grunt_twitter' occurred frequently during feeding, 'twitter_grunt' occurred predominantly during infant-directed affiliations. Female iterative sequences in which 'grunt' and 'twitter' calls recurred (e.g. 'twitter_grunt_twitter') also showed context-specific shifts, indicating a possible role for iteration in meaning generation.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that meaningful combinatorial capacities can extend beyond great apes and alarm contexts to socially benign interactions in monkeys. However, repertoire-wide use of meaning-shifting bigrams remains unconfirmed outside hominids.