Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01Which noisy songbird mimic has been seen in the wild copying a sound it heard only once?
Starling
Common starlings weave mimicked snatches of other birds and even man-made noises into their song, and their gift for mimicry was noted as far back as Pliny the Elder and Shakespeare.
Q 02Which marine mammals have pod-specific 'dialects' that scientists use to identify family groups?
Orcas
Orcas are the largest dolphins, and each resident pod shares a dialect of calls that its calves learn from podmates.
Q 03Which deep-diving cetacean communicates in click patterns called 'codas', whose dialects mark distinct vocal clans?
Sperm Whale
Sperm whales are known for their complex communication system involving 'codas,' rhythmic patterns of clicks that vary significantly between different matriarchal groups or 'vocal clans,' serving as a form of social identity.
Q 04Which Eurasian bird has regional song dialects, learned by young males imitating local adults?
Common Chaffinch
Common chaffinch song types cluster by region, and W. H. Thorpe found that chicks kept from hearing adult males never learn the song properly.
Q 05Which North American songbird is the classic example of learned regional 'song dialects'?
White-crowned Sparrow
White-crowned sparrows are a classic model for bird song learning and cultural evolution. Young males learn songs from local adults, resulting in stable, recognizable song dialects that can remain distinct for decades.
Q 06Which large baleen cetacean's complex songs spread between populations and undergo 'revolutions'?
Humpback Whale
Humpback whale songs are one of the most striking examples of cultural transmission in non-human animals, with complex songs that change and spread across populations in a phenomenon sometimes called 'cultural revolutions.'
Q 07Which primate's juveniles show site-specific dialects in their laughs, grunts and whimpers?
Chimpanzees
Chimpanzees at two study sites differed in juvenile laughs and grunts, yet adult pant-hoots have been found to vary more between individuals than between groups.
Q 08What is it called when an animal modifies its own signal after experiencing other individuals' signals?
Production learning
Production learning is a specific form of social learning where an animal modifies the form of its own vocal signal based on interactions and experiences with the signals of other individuals, a key component in the development of dialects.
Q 09Which small, highly vocal primate's infant calls change markedly in their first weeks, making it a model for vocal development?
Common Marmoset
Common marmoset infants' calls shift over their first weeks, and lesion studies show this early vocal development depends on the cingulate cortex.
Q 10Pups of which mammal were the first non-primates shown to 'babble' like human infants?
Greater Sac-winged Bats
Pups of greater sac-winged bats mix adult courtship trills, echolocation clicks and territorial calls, and their babbling shares eight features with human infants'.