During the breeding season, the underwater vocalizations and calling rates of adult male leopard seals are highly stereotyped. In contrast, sub-adult males have more variable acoustic behavior. Although adult males produce only five stereotyped broadcast calls as part of their long-range underwater breeding displays the sub-adults have a greater repertoire including the adult-like broadcast calls, as well as variants of these. Whether this extended repertoire has a social function is unknown due to the paucity of behavioral data for this species. The broadcast calls of the sub-adults are less stereotyped in their acoustic characteristics and they have a more variable calling rate. These age-related differences have major implications for geographic variation studies, where the acoustic behavior of different populations are compared, as well as for acoustic surveying studies, where numbers of calls are used to indicate numbers of individuals present. Sampling regimes which unknowingly include recordings from sub-adult animals will artificially exaggerate differences between populations and numbers of calling animals. The acoustic behavior of sub-adult and adult male leopard seals were significantly different and although this study does not show evidence that these differences reflect vocal learning in the male leopard seal it does suggest that contextual learning may be present.
REFERENCES
1.
Caldwell
, D. K.
, and Caldwell
, M. C.
(1972
). “Senses and Communication
,” in Mammals of the Sea: Biology and Medicine
, edited by S. H.
Ridgway
(Thomas
, Springfield
), pp. 466
–501
.2.
Catchpole
, C. K.
, and Slater
, P. J. B.
(1995
). “Themes and Variations
,” in Bird Song: Biological Themes and Variation
, edited by C. K.
Catchpole
and P. J. B.
Slater
(Cambridge University Press
, Cambridge
), pp. 164
–173
.3.
Coscia
, E. M.
, Phillips
, D. P.
, and Fentress
, J. C.
(1991
). “Spectral analysis of noenatal wolf Canis lupis vocalizations,” Bioacoustics 3
, 275
–293
.4.
De Wolfe
, B. B.
, Baptista
, L. F.
, and Petrinovich
, L.
(1989
). “Song development and territory establishment in Nuttall’s White-crowned sparrows
,” Condor
91
, 397
–407
.5.
Ford
, J. K.
(1991
). “Vocal traditions among resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) in coastal waters of British Columbia
,” Can. J. Zool.
69
, 1454
–1483
.6.
Heil
, P.
, and Allison
, I.
(1999
). “The pattern and variability of Antarctic sea-ice drift in the Indian Ocean and western Pacific sectors
,” J. Geophys. Res., [Oceans]
104
, 15789
–15802
.7.
Janik
, V. M.
, and Slater
, P. J. B.
(1997
). “Vocal learning in mammals
,” Advances in the Study of Behavior 26
, 59
–99
.8.
Janik
, V. M.
, and Slater
, P. J. B.
(2000
). “The different roles of social learning in vocal communication
,” Anim. Behav.
60
, 1
–11
.9.
Jones
, G.
, and Ransome
, R. D.
(1993
). “Echolocation calls of bats change over a lifetime are influenced by maternal effects
,” Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. B
252B
, 125
–128
.10.
Marler
, P.
, and Peters
, S.
(1981
). “Sparrows learn adult song and more from memory
,” Science
213
, 780
–782
.11.
Morrice
, M. G.
, Burton
, H. R.
, and Green
, K.
(1994
). “Microgeographic variation and songs in the underwater vocalisation repertoire of the Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) from the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica
,” Polar Biology 14
, 441
–446
.12.
Nelson
, B. S.
, and Marler
, P.
(1993
). “Innate recognition of song in white-crowned sparrows: A role in selective vocal learning?
,” Anim. Behav.
46
, 806
–808
.13.
Nottebohm
, F.
(1972
). “The origins of vocal learning
,” Am. Nat.
106
, 116
–135
.14.
Payne
, K. B.
, and Payne
, R.
(1985
). “Large scale changes over in songs of humpback whales in Bermuda
,” Z. Tierpsychol
86
, 89
–114
.15.
Payne
, K. B.
, Tyack
, P. L.
, and Payne
, R.
(1983
). “Progressive changes in the songs of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): A detailed analysis of two seasons in Hawaii
,” in Communication and Behaviour in Whales
, edited by R.
Payne
(Westview, Boulder, Co
), pp. 9
–57
.16.
Podos
, J.
, Nowicki
, S.
, and Peters
, S.
, (1999
). “Permissiveness in the learning and development of song syntax in swamp sparrows
,” Anim. Behav.
58
, 93
–103
.17.
Ralls
, K.
, Fiorelli
, P.
, and Gish
, S.
, (1985
). “Vocalizations and vocal mimicry in captive harbor seals, Phoca vitulina
,” Can. J. Zool.
63
, 1050
–1056
.18.
Reiss
, D.
, and McCowan
, B.
, (1993
). “Spontaneous vocal mimicry and production by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): Evidence for vocal learning
,” J. Comp. Psychol.
107
, 301
–312
.19.
Rogers
, T. L.
, and Bryden
, M. M.
, (1997
). “Density and haul-out behaviour of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in Prydz Bay, Antarctica
,” Marine Mammal Sci.
13
, 293
–302
.20.
Rogers
, T. L.
, and Cato
, D. H.
, (2002
). “Individual variation in the acoustic behaviour of the adult male leopard seals, Hydrurga leptonyx
,” Behaviour
139
, 1267
–1286
.21.
Rogers
, T. L.
, Cato
, D. H.
, and Bryden
, M. M.
, (1995
). “Underwater vocal repertoire of the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) in Prydz Bay, Antarctica
,” in Sensory Systems of Aquatic Mammals
, edited by R. A.
Kastelein
, J. A.
Thomas
, and P. E.
Nachtigall
(De Spil
, Woerden, The Netherlands
), pp. 223
–236
.22.
Rogers
, T. L.
, Cato
, D. H.
, and Bryden
, M. M.
, (1996
). “Behavioural significance of underwater vocalizations of captive leopard seals, Hydrurga leptonyx
,” Marine Mammal Sci.
12
, 414
–427
.23.
Rogers
, T. L.
, Hogg
, C. J.
, and Irvine
, A.
, (2005
). “Spatial movement of adult leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) in Prydz Bay, Eastern Antarctica
,” Polar Biology 28
, 456
–463
.24.
Rounsevell
, D.
, and Pemberton
, D.
, (1994
). “The status and seasonal occurrence of leopard seals, Hydrurga leptonyx, in Tasmanian waters
,” Australian Mammalogy 17
, 97
–102
.25.
Shipley
, C.
, Hines
, M.
, and Buchwald
, J. S.
, (1986
). “Vocalizations of northern elephant seal bulls: Development of adult call characteristics during puberty
,” J. Mammal.
67
, 526
–536
.26.
Siniff
, D. B.
, and Stone
, S.
, (1985
). “The role of the leopard seal in the tropho-dynamics of the Antarctic marine ecosystem
,” in Antarctic Nutrient Cycles and Food Webs
, edited by W. R.
Siegfried
, P. R.
Condy
, and R. M.
Laws
(Springer
, Berlin
), pp. 555
–560
.27.
Southwell
, C.
, Kerry
, K.
, Ensor
, P.
, Woehler
, E. J.
, and Rogers
, T.
, (2003
). “The timing of pupping by pack-ice seals in East Antarctica
,” Polar Biology 26
, 648
–652
.28.
Stirling
, I.
, and Siniff
, D. B.
, (1979
). “Underwater vocalizations of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) and crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophagus) near the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
,” Can. J. Zool.
57
, 1244
–1248
.29.
Thomas
, J. A.
, and DeMaster
, D. P.
, (1982
). “An acoustic technique for determining diurnal activities in leopard (Hydrurga leptonyx) and crabeater (Lobodon carcinophagus) seal
,” Can. J. Zool.
60
, 2028
–2031
.30.
Thomas
, J. A.
, and Golladay
, C. L.
, (1995
). “Geographic variation in leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) underwater vocalizations
,” in Sensory Systems of Aquatic Mammals
, edited by R. A.
Kastelein
, J. A.
Thomas
, and P. E.
Nachtigall
(De Spil
, Woerden, The Netherlands
), pp 201
–221
.31.
Würsig
, B.
, and Clark
C.
, (1993
). “Behavior
,” in The Bowhead Whale
, edited by J. J.
Burns
, J. J.
Montague
, and C. J.
Cowles
(Society for Marine Mammalogy
, Lawrence, KS
), Vol. 2
pp. 157–199.© 2007 Acoustical Society of America.
2007
Acoustical Society of America
You do not currently have access to this content.
