Cited by 224Animal Vocal Communication and BehaviorAnimal Behavior and ReproductionNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior

Female mice ultrasonically interact with males during courtship displays

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Neunuebel, Joshua P, Taylor, Adam L, Arthur, Ben J, Egnor, SE Roian·2015·eLife

Abstract

During courtship males attract females with elaborate behaviors. In mice, these displays include ultrasonic vocalizations. Ultrasonic courtship vocalizations were previously attributed to the courting male, despite evidence that both sexes produce virtually indistinguishable vocalizations. Because of this similarity, and the difficulty of assigning vocalizations to individuals, the vocal contribution of each individual during courtship is unknown. To address this question, we developed a microphone array system to localize vocalizations from socially interacting, individual adult mice. With this system, we show that female mice vocally interact with males during courtship. Males and females jointly increased their vocalization rates during chases. Furthermore, a female's participation in these vocal interactions may function as a signal that indicates a state of increased receptivity. Our results reveal a novel form of vocal communication during mouse courtship, and lay the groundwork for a mechanistic dissection of communication during social behavior.

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  • Male mice alter behavior in response to female ultrasonic vocalizations, and these calls contain information about the female's reproductive receptivity.

    “Similarly, male mice alter behavior in response to female USVs, and these calls contain information about the female’s reproductive receptivity [92,93].”

    From The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives (2023) · cites this paper as [92]

    The Results (page unavailable) report that male and female vocalizations are temporally coordinated, but do not establish that female calls cause males to alter their behavior; male chase speed did not differ between chases with and without vocal interactions. The Discussion (page unavailable) proposes that female calls may indicate receptivity, rather than demonstrating that their information content does so. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Neunuebel, J. P., Taylor, A. L., Arthur, B. J., & Egnor, S. R.
Affiliations
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States
Corresponding author
Neunuebel, Joshua P
Venue
eLife
Published
2015-05-28
Volume
4
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2161992654
Cited by
224
References
91
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 3
FWCI
19.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • eLife (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) (Janelia Research Campus)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology › Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Keywords
courtship vocalizations, ultrasonic vocalizations, microphone array, vocal communication, chase, social behavior
MeSH terms
Animals, Courtship, Female, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Sex Factors, Social Behavior, Ultrasonics, Vocalization, Animal, Mice

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