Acoustic Communication in Animals: From Insect Wingbeats to Human Music (Bioacoustics Series Vol.1)

This book is the first volume of the bioacoustics series published by the Society for Bioacoustics. This volume provides an overview of the advances and recent topics in acoustic communication in various animals. Most animals produce vibrations and sounds by moving their body parts, including vocal organs. These sounds can be research targets of bioacoustics studies. How animals use these sounds, especially in inter-individual relationships, is the focus of this volume, “Acoustic Communication in Animals”.

The authors’ expertise varies from molecular biology, neurobiology to psychology, and human brain imaging. Their research subjects range from invertebrates to humans. Despite the variety of topics, chapters are developed under the consideration of ethology and evolution. Readers will recognize the profundity of the topics in each chapter. In addition, the view and understanding of natural sound sequences produced by animals can vary among different cultures. Research fromJapan and regions that have been underrepresented in previous literature can offer new ideas and unique perspectives in the study of bioacoustics.

Readers can grasp the progress of this research field in a broad range of species in one book. The book presents multi- and interdisciplinary topics and appeals to researchers and students in fields including psychology, physiology, zoology, ethology, and neurosciences.

Yoshimasa Seki is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Aichi University, Japan. He has studied avian vocal learning for about 20 years in labs at Chiba University, The University of Maryland, RIKEN, The University of Tokyo and the current institution. He had been a member of the editorial board of Ornithological Science, the official journal of The Ornithological Society of Japan, from 2013 to 2022.