Vowel- and Diphthong-Like Spectral Patterns in Sperm Whale Codas.

ABSTRACT: The sperm whale communication system, consisting of groups of clicks called codas, has been primarily analyzed in terms of the number of clicks and their inter-click timing. This paper reports spectral properties in sperm whale vocalizations and demonstrates that spectral properties are highly structured, discretely distributed across codas, and uttered in dialogues, rather than being a physical artefact of whale movement. We report formant structure in whale codas and uncover previously unobserved spectral patterns. We argue that these spectral properties freely combine with the traditionally analyzed properties. We present a visualization technique that allows the description of several previously unobserved patterns. Codas are on many levels analogous to human vowels and diphthon

SUBMITTER: Begus G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12594577 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature