Production of ultrasonic vocalizations by Peromyscus mice in the wild.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There has been considerable research on rodent ultrasound in the laboratory and these sounds have been well quantified and characterized. Despite the value of research on ultrasound produced by mice in the lab, it is unclear if, and when, these sounds are produced in the wild, and how they function in natural habitats.

Results

We have made the first recordings of ultrasonic vocalizations produced by two free-living species of mice in the genus Peromyscus (P. californicus and P. boylii) on long term study grids in California. Over 6 nights, we recorded 65 unique ultrasonic vocalization phrases from Peromyscus. The ultrasonic vocalizations we recorded represent 7 different motifs. Within each motif, there was considerable variation in the acoustic characteristics su

SUBMITTER: Kalcounis-Rueppell MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1524959 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature