Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: ABSTRACT Communication enables partners to coordinate actions toward shared goals, but how vocal communication is organized during cooperation remains poorly understood. We recorded vocalizations from three common marmoset ( Callithrix jacchus ) dyads as they learned a mutual cooperation task requiring coordinated lever pulls for reward. Vocal behavior was divided by social hierarchy: dominants produced t-peeps, whereas subordinates produced chirps. Interestingly, dominant t-peeps followed failed cooperative pulls, peaked when cooperative bouts broke down, and declined after learning. By contrast, subordinate chirps followed successful pulls, accumulated during sustained cooperation, and persisted after learning. Each call was linked to the caller’s task role: dominant animals t-peeped more in sessions they led, and subordinates chirped mainly after cooperations they initiated, associations that sharpened with learning. Thus, social rank determined which vocal signal a partner used, whereas task role and the state of cooperation determined when to communicate. These complementary vocal signals of failure and success reveal how hierarchy, task role and task phase organize communication during joint action in cooperating marmosets.
Institutions: University of Pittsburgh, Yale University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222474962