Nonlinear phenomena in animal vocalizations: do they reflect alternative functional modes of voice control, ‘leaked’ cues to quality or condition, or both?

Nonlinear phenomena (NLP) in animal vocalizations typically present as abrupt departures from normative controlled voicing. They occur most commonly in loud vocalizations, often in contexts of high arousal, including alarm, aggression, fear or distress, or in elaborate displays of territory or competitive ability. They therefore invite interpretation as ‘mistakes’ that evince loss of vocal control resulting from effortful, emotional ‘over-driving’ of the vocal system. However, vocal over-driving may be more flexible and purposeful, representing an alternative functional mode of voice control if NLP can benefit signallers in some contexts. The latter perspective is first elaborated with examples from non-human primates before turning to cases where NLP truly do evince loss of vocal control that may then ‘leak’ cues to signaller quality or condition. To support future frameworks to study and understand the different domains where NLP occur, a functional distinction is emphasized that turns on whether high-amplitude, effortful voicing—which inherently predisposes NLP—is at the discretion of the signaller such that the focus is on the adaptive production of NLP, or whether effortful voicing is effectively forced upon signallers by other dictates of the context itself, changing the focus to being the adaptive avoidance of NLP. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Nonlinear phenomena in vertebrate vocalizations: mechanisms and communicative functions’.