Vocal learning and rhythm processing in harbor seals

Vocal learning is the capacity to learn new sounds that do not belong to one’s natural repertoire. Rhythm refers to the suite of abilities needed to produce and perceive structured sequences of temporal intervals. The presence of vocal learning and rhythm in only a few vertebrates drives a cross-species hypothesis in evolutionary neuroscience: vocal learning and rhythm processing may be neurobiologically and evolutionarily linked. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) may be one of the few mammals to have both. Here I will present data from approximately 15 studies done over the last 6 years in my lab, including: (1) recordings of spontaneous vocalization and sonation, (2) playback experiments, (3) learning experiments via operant conditioning, and (4) vocal tract morphology and neuroanatomical data. Building on cognitive neuroscience and animal behavior, this research integrates methods from human cognition and comparative psychology with attention to species’ ecological sensory niches. Our data suggest that harbor seals have developed capacities for vocal learning and rhythm processing; some of their underlying building blocks appear early in life. [Work supported by Max Planck Group Leader funding, the European Union (ERC, TOHR, 101041885) and the Human Frontier Science Program Research Grant RGP0019/2022, all awarded to Andrea Ravignani.]