Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Evolution of Birdsong Grammars

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
New Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (JSAI 2003, JSAI 2004)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 3609))

Abstract

Recent studies on song birds reveal that their vocal communication has some common features with human language. In particular, a songbird called Bengalese finch has interesting vocal communication in which courtship song is arranged by finite-state grammar [6]. It has been hypothesized that the song grammar may have evolved as a result of sexual selection [10]. In order to explore the evolution of the song grammars, we model the co-evolution of male and female finches by asymmetric finite-state automata. In this paper, we demonstrate that song grammars could evolve by simple communication. We observe that a transition from lower complexity to higher complexity song grammars is driven by the changing of male birds’ courting strategy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Aitchison, J.: The Seeds of Speech: Language Origin and Evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Chomsky, N., Huybregts, R., Riemsdijk, H.C.V., Fukui, N., Zushi, M.: The Generative Enterprise Revisited: Discussions With Riny Huybregts, Henk Van Riemsdijk, Naoki Fukui and Mihoko Zushi. Walter De Gruyter Inc., Berlin (2004)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  3. Hashimoto, T., Ikegami, T.: Emergence of net-grammar in communicationg agents. Biosystems 38, 1–14 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hauser, M.D., Chomsky, N., Fitch, W.T.: The faculty of language: What is it, who has it, and how did it evolve? Science 298, 1569–1589 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hockett, C.F.: The origin of speech. Scientific American 203, 88–96 (1969)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Honda, E., Okanoya, K.: Acoustical and syntactical comparisons between songs of the white-backed munia(lonchura striata) and its domesticated strain, the bengalese finch(lonchura striata var. domestica). Zoological Science 16, 319–326 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hopcroft, J.E., Ullman, J.D.: Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages and Computation. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1979)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  8. Hosino, T., Okanoya, K.: Lesion of a higher-order song control nucleus disrupts phrase-level complexity in bengalese finches’. NeuroReport 11, 2091–2095 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Michael, S.B., Allison, J.D.: What songbirds teach us about learnig? Nature 417, 351–358 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Okanoya, K.: Sexual display as a syntactical vehicle. In: W., A. (ed.) The Transition to Language, pp. 46–63. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Okanoya, K.: Kotorino Uta kara Hito no Kotoba he (in Japnaese). Iwanami Syoten, Tokyo (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sasahara, K., Ikegami, T.: Coevolution of birdsong grammar without imitation. In: Banzhaf, W., Ziegler, J., Christaller, T., Dittrich, P., Kim, J.T. (eds.) ECAL 2003. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 2801, pp. 482–490. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  13. Sasahara, K., Ikegami, T.: Song grammars as complex sexual displays. In: Artificial Life IX: Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, MIT Press, Cambridge (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Steels, L.: The Talking Heads Experiment, vol. 1. Words and Meanings, Antwerpen (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Suzuki, J., Kaneko, K.: Imitation game. Physica D 75, 328–342 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Werner, G.M., Todd, P.M.: Too many love songs: Sexual selection and the evolution of communication. In: W., A. (ed.) Fourth European Conference on Artificial Life, pp. 434–443. MIT Press, Cambridge (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Zahavi, A., Zahavi, A.: The Handicap Principle. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1997)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Systems Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, 3-8-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan

    Kazutoshi Sasahara & Takashi Ikegami

Authors
  1. Kazutoshi Sasahara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Takashi Ikegami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Akito Sakurai KĂ´iti Hasida Katsumi Nitta

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Sasahara, K., Ikegami, T. (2007). Evolution of Birdsong Grammars. In: Sakurai, A., Hasida, K., Nitta, K. (eds) New Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. JSAI JSAI 2003 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 3609. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71009-7_27

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71009-7_27

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-71008-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-71009-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation