High frequency audible calls in northern birch mice Sicista betulina in response to handling: effects of individuality, sex and body mass on the acoustics.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This is the first study of the sonic and ultrasonic vocalization in a Dipodidae rodent. For the small-sized quadrupedal northern birch mouse Sicista betulina, phylogenetically related to the bipedal jerboas (Dipodidae), we report null results for ultrasonic vocalization and investigate the acoustic cues to individual identity, sex and body size in the discomfort-related high-frequency tonal sonic calls.

Results

We used a parallel audio recording in the sonic and ultrasonic ranges during weighting adult northern birch mice before the scheduled hibernation in captivity. The sonic (audible) high-frequency tonal calls (ranging from 6.21 to 9.86 kHz) were presented in all individuals (7 males and 4 females). The ultrasonic calls lacked in the recordings. Two-way nested

SUBMITTER: Volodin IA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6805337 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature