title: Cross-fostering alters advertisement vocalizations of grasshopper mice (Onychomys): Evidence for the developmental stress hypothesis.
abstract: Nutritional stress can have lasting impacts on the development of traits involved in vocal production. Cross-fostering experiments are often used to examine the propensity for vocal learning in a variety of taxa, but few studies assess the influence of malnourishment that can occur as a byproduct of this technique. In this study, we reciprocally cross-fostered sister taxa of voluble grasshopper mice (genus Onychomys) to explore their propensity for vocal learning. Vocalizations of Onychomys leucogaster did not differ between control and cross-fostered animals, but cross-fostered Onychomys arenicola produced vocalizations that were higher in frequency in a direction away from tutors. These same animals exhibited a transient reduction in body mass early in development, indicative of malnutrition. Our findings simultaneously refute vocal learning and support the developmental stress hypothesis to highlight the importance of early ontogeny on the production of vocalizations later in life.
authors.affiliation: Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States; Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States. Electronic address: bret.pasch@nau.edu.
authors.forename: Bret
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pasch
authors.affiliation: Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78713, United States.
authors.forename: Mustafa Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States.
authors.forename: Macey
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States.
authors.forename: Jeremy B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Searle
authors.affiliation: Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States; Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, United States.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.affiliation: Bioacoustics Research Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States.
authors.forename: Aaron N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Rice
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005581:Foster Home Care; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013045:Species Specificity; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cross-fostering; Developmental stress; Vocal production mechanism; Vocalization