Experimental evidence for core-Merge in the vocal communication system of a wild passerine

Abstract

One of the cognitive capacities underlying language is core-Merge, which allows senders to combine two words into a sequence and receivers to recognize it as a single unit. Recent field studies suggest intriguing parallels in non-human animals, e.g., Japanese tits (Parus minor) combine two meaning-bearing calls into a sequence when prompting antipredator displays in other individuals. However, whether such examples represent core-Merge remains unclear; receivers may perceive a two-call sequence as two individual calls that are arbitrarily produced in close time proximity, not as a single unit. If an animal species has evolved core-Merge, its receivers should treat a two-call sequence produced by a single individual differently from the same two calls produced by two individuals with the same timing. Here, we show that Japanese tit receivers exhibit antipredator displays when perceiving two-call sequences broadcast from a single source, but not from two sources, providing evidence for core-Merge in animals.