Babbling bats
A notable aspect of language development in humans is the babbling stage. During this time, toddlers make a range of specific sounds as they practice and imitate adult speech. Humans are not the only vocal learners, however, so might we expect such babbling among others? Fernandez et al. recorded the vocalizations of sac-winged bat pups in the wild and found clear evidence of babbling that was consistent with that seen in humans. The shared babbling components suggest that vocal learning may have similar specific mechanisms across a wide array of mammalian species.
Science, abf9279, this issue p. 923
Abstract
Babbling is a production milestone in infant speech development. Evidence for babbling in nonhuman mammals is scarce, which has prevented cross-species comparisons. In this study, we investigated the conspicuous babbling behavior of Saccopteryx bilineata, a bat capable of vocal production learning. We analyzed the babbling of 20 bat pups in the field during their 3-month ontogeny and compared its features to those that characterize babbling in human infants. Our findings demonstrate that babbling in bat pups is characterized by the same eight features as babbling in human infants, including the conspicuous features reduplication and rhythmicity. These parallels in vocal ontogeny between two mammalian species offer future possibilities for comparison of cognitive and neuromolecular mechanisms and adaptive functions of babbling in bats and humans.