Vocal learning, the substrate of human language acquisition, has rarely been described in other mammals. Often, group-specific vocal dialects in wild populations provide the main evidence for vocal learning. While social learning is often the most plausible explanation for these intergroup differences, it is usually impossible to exclude other driving factors, such as genetic or ecological backgrounds. Here, we show the formation of dialects through social vocal learning in fruit bats under controlled conditions. We raised 3 groups of pups in conditions mimicking their natural roosts. Namely, pups could hear their mothers' vocalizations but were also exposed to a manipulation playback. The vocalizations in the 3 playbacks mainly differed in their fundamental frequency. From the age of approximately 6 months and onwards, the pups demonstrated distinct dialects, where each group was biased towards its playback. We demonstrate the emergence of dialects through social learning in a mammalian model in a tightly controlled environment. Unlike in the extensively studied case of songbirds where specific tutors are imitated, we demonstrate that bats do not only learn their vocalizations directly from their mothers, but that they are actually influenced by the sounds of the entire crowd. This process, which we term “crowd vocal learning,” might be relevant to many other social animals such as cetaceans and pinnipeds.

声乐学习是人类语言习得的基础，很少在其他哺乳动物中得到描述。通常，在野生种群中，特定于群体的语音方言为语音学习提供了主要证据。虽然社会学习通常是这些群体间差异的最合理的解释，但通常不可能排除其他驱动因素，例如遗传或生态背景。在这里，我们展示了在受控条件下通过社交语音学习在果蝠中形成的方言。我们在模仿其自然栖息地的条件下饲养了3组幼崽。即，幼犬可以听到母亲的发声，但也可以进行操纵回放。3个播放中的发声主要在基本频率上有所不同。从大约6个月大以后，幼犬表现出截然不同的方言，其中每组的偏向于其回放。我们通过在严格控制的环境中的哺乳动物模型中进行社会学习来证明方言的出现。与广泛研究的模仿特定导师的鸣禽不同，我们证明了蝙蝠不仅直接从母亲那里学习发声，而且实际上受到整个人群声音的影响。我们称其为“人群语音学习”的过程可能与鲸类动物和pin科动物等许多其他社交动物有关。与广泛研究的模仿特定导师的鸣禽不同，我们证明了蝙蝠不仅直接从母亲那里学习发声，而且实际上受到整个人群声音的影响。我们称其为“人群语音学习”的过程可能与鲸类动物和pin科动物等许多其他社交动物有关。与广泛研究的模仿特定导师的鸣禽不同，我们证明了蝙蝠不仅直接从母亲那里学习发声，而且实际上受到整个人群声音的影响。我们称其为“人群语音学习”的过程可能与鲸类动物和pin科动物等许多其他社交动物有关。