Song synchronization in female-female duets of Klosss gibbons (Hylobates klossii)
Poster Number
11
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Richard Tenaza
Faculty Mentor Department
Biological Sciences
Abstract/Artist Statement
We analyzed song synchronization of two female Kloss’s gibbons(Hylobates klossi) in Professor Tenaza’s laboratory in the University of the Pacific Department of Biological Sciences. Gibbons are small, monogamous, arboreal apes of South East Asia. We concentrated the study on one species that is endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia , Kloss’s gibbon (Hylobates klossii). One thing very interesting about this species is that song synchronization happens in same sex unlike other 11 species of gibbons. Only 2 species of gibbons have this unique property. We focused our study on female-female duet. The female Kloss’s gibbons meet on shared territorial boundaries and sing together, in duets. The study was performed with two main software; Pro Tools and Raven Pro. Pro Tools is a sound mixing software that helped us to catalog and organize gibbons sound recorded by Professor Tenaza long time ago. Raven Pro is sound analysis software, designed by Cornell University, to examine the spectrogram of the animal sound. Our study indicated that there was a certain degree of synchrony in each song phrase. During the synchrony, each female sang a repetitive song phrase, which last for average 31 seconds with time difference of 0.5 seconds between the leader and the follower. This cooperation is unique property, because animals are believed to interact competitively in most cases. This study may help us in the future, since gibbons and human share about 95% of genetic materials.
Location
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
Start Date
21-4-2011 6:00 PM
End Date
21-4-2011 8:00 PM
Song synchronization in female-female duets of Klosss gibbons (Hylobates klossii)
DeRosa University Center, Ballroom
We analyzed song synchronization of two female Kloss’s gibbons(Hylobates klossi) in Professor Tenaza’s laboratory in the University of the Pacific Department of Biological Sciences. Gibbons are small, monogamous, arboreal apes of South East Asia. We concentrated the study on one species that is endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia , Kloss’s gibbon (Hylobates klossii). One thing very interesting about this species is that song synchronization happens in same sex unlike other 11 species of gibbons. Only 2 species of gibbons have this unique property. We focused our study on female-female duet. The female Kloss’s gibbons meet on shared territorial boundaries and sing together, in duets. The study was performed with two main software; Pro Tools and Raven Pro. Pro Tools is a sound mixing software that helped us to catalog and organize gibbons sound recorded by Professor Tenaza long time ago. Raven Pro is sound analysis software, designed by Cornell University, to examine the spectrogram of the animal sound. Our study indicated that there was a certain degree of synchrony in each song phrase. During the synchrony, each female sang a repetitive song phrase, which last for average 31 seconds with time difference of 0.5 seconds between the leader and the follower. This cooperation is unique property, because animals are believed to interact competitively in most cases. This study may help us in the future, since gibbons and human share about 95% of genetic materials.