Animal acoustic communication has a conserved optimal rhythm within the neural delta range.
A correction to this paper has been published: the notice, 42671983, from Europe PMC.
Overview
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Université Paris Cité, Institut Pasteur, AP-HP, Inserm, Fondation Pour l’Audition, Institut de l’Audition, IHU reConnect, Paris, France
Abstract
Acoustic communication is crucial for survival across the animal kingdom, with acoustic signals being shaped by the interaction of producer and receiver selective pressures. While spectral features’ variation reflects species-specific selection, the evolutionary history of acoustic communication rhythms, i.e., the rhythmic modulations of acoustic signals, remains unknown. Using data from 98 species spanning primarily mammals and birds, with additional representation from amphibians, reptiles, fishes, and insects, we investigate the origins of acoustic communication rhythms, notably whether they are shaped by the producer’s anatomical characteristics, environmental constraints, or social complexity. Regression models which controlled for phylogenetic relatedness did not support an influence of these species-specific selective forces; instead, explicit phylogenetic models of trait evolution showed that most species’ rhythms are conserved around an evolutionary optimum of 2.7 Hz that falls within the neural delta range (1–4 Hz) and predates mammalian divergence. Given the known conserved brain oscillations across species and delta involvement in active sensing, we propose that, unlike spectral features, acoustic rhythm could be governed by a universal neural mechanism facilitating effective intra and interspecific communication via a shared channel that has persisted through evolutionary times.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Code
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Data
Datasets cited
- zenodo:19816728, at Zenodo; found in the text, “Rhythm computation”
Data Availability
All data and code used for the analysis in this study are available in a public Zenodo repository. This repository contains the raw data, scripts for data processing, analysis, and visualization, as well as detailed instructions for reproducing the results. The repository can be accessed at https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 8 authors, 7 MeSH terms, 3 funders, 39 references, 2 integrity notices.
Cite
This paper
Piette, T., Cathcart, C., Barbieri, C., Martin Ming, K., Grandjean, D., Bickel, B., Déaux, E., & Giraud, A.-L. (2026). Animal acoustic communication has a conserved optimal rhythm within the neural delta range. PLoS biology, 24(6), e3003798. https://
BibTeX
@article{piette2026anima
author = {Piette, Theophane and Cathcart, Chundra and Barbieri, Chiaria and Martin Ming, Keesha and Grandjean, Didier and Bickel, Balthasar and Déaux, Eloïse and Giraud, Anne-Lise},
title = {{Animal acoustic communication has a conserved optimal rhythm within the neural delta range}},
journal = {PLoS biology},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
volume = {24},
number = {6},
pages = {e3003798},
publisher = {PLOS},
issn = {1544-9173},
doi = {10.1371/
url = {https://
pmid = {42263115},
pmcid = {PMC13249164}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Piette, Theophane
AU - Cathcart, Chundra
AU - Barbieri, Chiaria
AU - Martin Ming, Keesha
AU - Grandjean, Didier
AU - Bickel, Balthasar
AU - Déaux, Eloïse
AU - Giraud, Anne-Lise
TI - Animal acoustic communication has a conserved optimal rhythm within the neural delta range
T2 - PLoS biology
J2 - PLoS Biol
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 24
IS - 6
SP - e3003798
SN - 1544-9173
PB - PLOS
DO - 10.1371/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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