title: Understanding the intentional acoustic behavior of humpback whales: a production-based approach.
abstract: Following a production-based approach, this paper deals with the acoustic behavior of humpback whales. This approach investigates various physical factors, which are either internal (e.g., physiological mechanisms) or external (e.g., environmental constraints) to the respiratory tractus of the whale, for their implications in sound production. This paper aims to describe a functional scenario of this tractus for the generation of vocal sounds. To do so, a division of this tractus into three different configurations is proposed, based on the air recirculation process which determines air sources and laryngeal valves. Then, assuming a vocal function (in sound generation or modification) for several specific anatomical components, an acoustic characterization of each of these configurations is proposed to link different spectral features, namely, fundamental frequencies and formant structures, to specific vocal production mechanisms. A discussion around the question of whether the whale is able to fully exploit the acoustic potential of its respiratory tractus is eventually provided.
authors: Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, University UPMC Paris 6, CNRS UMR 7190, Equipe Lutheries Acoustique Musicale, LAM 11 rue de Lourmel, 75015 Paris, France. cazaudorian@aol.com
authors: Dorian
authors: D
authors: Cazau
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Adam
authors: Jeffrey T
authors: JT
authors: Laitman
authors: Joy S
authors: JS
authors: Reidenberg
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000818:Animals; D050640:Humpback Whale / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D007830:Larynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D010699:Phonation; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D014828:Vocalization, Animal