聲音的可塑性是每一個個體天生都有的能力，我們可以通過我們所處的社會環(huán)境來修飾改變我們的聲音特質(zhì),，人類得益于極好的聲音可塑性,，這讓我們可以發(fā)出一系列聲音以及音色,，但是在其他哺乳動物中，比如蝙蝠和鯨來說,，它們的發(fā)聲已經(jīng)在遺傳上被決定了,，而且在靈活性和學(xué)習(xí)能力上很有限制。
倫敦大學(xué)皇后瑪麗學(xué)院的科學(xué)家Elohie Briefer博士和Alan McElligott博士對這類山羊羔的叫聲進(jìn)行了遺傳學(xué)和社會學(xué)效應(yīng)的研究,，研究組對四組山羊進(jìn)行了研究,，研究者記錄下了山羊在兩個社會和生態(tài)學(xué)上不同生長時期的生活狀況，一周大的時候,，他們將自己隱藏在捕食者不能找到的地方,，五周大以后，他們就和同齡的動物一起活動,。
雜志The British Journal of Animal Behaviour近日刊登了研究者的研究結(jié)果,，研究小組表示，盡管先天性的發(fā)音限制,，當(dāng)山羊長時間生活在同一個圈子的時候,，他們的聲音語言就會變得非常相似,。Briefer博士解釋說，遺傳因素相近的羊羔發(fā)出相似的叫聲,，這個不足為奇,，但是在同一個社會群體下生長的羊羔們相對彼此也會發(fā)出相似的叫聲，而且隨著它們年齡的增長,，相似度將會越高,，這就揭示了山羊可以通過后天的社會環(huán)境，以及群體環(huán)境來改變修飾自己的發(fā)音,，最終產(chǎn)生最為相似的叫聲,。
像山羊這種哺乳動物聲音可塑性的存在顯現(xiàn)出了語言交流進(jìn)化過程中的一種可能性途徑，就是最終會使得人類會進(jìn)行正常的語言交流和演講,，McElligott博士表示,，他們這項研究也突出了家養(yǎng)動物所擁有的認(rèn)知能力，而且直到現(xiàn)在也未曾被人類察覺到,，提高它們行為和認(rèn)知能力的知識可以為我們改變動物的福利提供一些必要的信息,。（生物谷：T.Shen編譯）
doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.01.020
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Social effects on vocal ontogeny in an ungulate, the goat, Capra hircus
Elodie F. Briefer, , Alan G. McElligott,
Vocal plasticity is the ability of an individual to modify its vocalizations according to its environment. Humans benefit from an extreme form of vocal plasticity, allowing us to produce a wide range of sounds. This capacity to modify sounds has been shown in three bird orders and in a few nonhuman mammal species, all characterized by complex vocal communication systems. In other mammals, there is no evidence for a social impact on vocal development. We investigated whether contact calls were affected by social environment and kinship during early ontogeny in goats, a highly vocal and social species. To test the influence of social environment on kid vocalizations, we compared half siblings raised in the same or different groups. The effect of kinship on calls was assessed by comparing full siblings with half siblings. Calls of half siblings were more similar when they had been raised in the same social group than in different groups, and converged with time. Full siblings had more similar calls than half siblings. The group-specific indicators in kid vocalizations show that goat call ontogeny is affected by their social environment. This suggests that vocal plasticity could be more widespread in mammals than previously believed, showing a possible early pathway in the evolution of vocal learning leading to human language.
