I have recorded USVs of Sprague Dawley rats during a helping behavior task - along with the typical tonal whistles, I am also hearing calls that I am having difficulty identifying. They are atonal and don't seem to have the same structure as typical USVs. I have attached a sound clip - does anyone have experience with more nuanced rat USVs to help identify a) if this is in fact a call and b) what behavior a call like this is usually associated with? Thank you for your help.
Hi Stewart, i had a look at your file and created a spectrogram. In my opinion there could be a call at 0.34 seconds, but your example is kind of noisy. If you are referring to the flat sound around 60 kHz starting at 0.1 seconds, this might also be noise.
I recommend to read following papers if you a interested in 50 kHz USV subtypes and behaviors:
Wöhr M (2018) Ultrasonic communication in rats: appetitive 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations as social contact calls. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 72:14.
Pereira M, Andreatini R, Schwarting RKW, Brenes JC (2014) Amphetamine-induced appetitive 50-kHz calls in rats: a marker of affect in mania? Psychopharmacology (Berl) 231:2567–2577.
Wright JM, Gourdon JC, Clarke PBS (2010) Identification of multiple call categories within the rich repertoire of adult rat 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations: effects of amphetamine and social context. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 211:1–13.
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