ABSTRACT Vocal dialects have fascinated biologists for over 50 years. This mosaic pattern of geographic variation in learned vocalisations was first described in a songbird, and since that time most studies investigating dialects have focused on songbird species. Here we examine patterns of geographic variation in the calls of a different group of vocal learning birds, the parrots (order Psittaciformes). We summarise the growing literature on vocal variation in parrots, and complement this review with a survey of variation in the genus Amazona using calls from sound libraries. We find strikingly similar patterns to those previously found in songbirds. Over 90% of parrots examined in the literature, and 69% of Amazona species surveyed, showed geographic variation consistent with a propensity to share local call types. This trait is evolutionarily labile and widespread; within Amazona most clades contained species with and without geographic variation, and most major lineages of parrots include representatives with dialects. We found little support for the long-standing hypothesis that dialects isolate populations and thus generate genetic differences among populations. Instead, most studies support the idea that dialects are maintained by social benefits of matching local call types, a finding that has implications for the management of captive and endangered populations. Considerable scope remains for studies that experimentally test hypotheses for the exact nature of these benefits, as well as studies that employ comparisons among species, to understand how the interplay between ecology, social dynamics and vocal learning capacities produces different patterns of variation across the parrots.

中文翻译：

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鹦鹉的声音方言：文化进化的模式和过程

摘要 50 多年来，方言一直让生物学家着迷。这种学习发声的地理变异马赛克模式首先在鸣禽中描述，从那时起，大多数方言调查研究都集中在鸣禽物种上。在这里，我们研究了一组不同的声乐学习鸟类鹦鹉（鹦鹉形目）的叫声的地理变化模式。我们总结了越来越多关于鹦鹉声音变异的文献，并通过使用来自声音库的调用对亚马逊属的变异进行调查来补充这篇评论。我们发现了与以前在鸣禽中发现的惊人相似的模式。文献中超过 90% 的鹦鹉和 69% 调查的亚马逊物种表现出地理差异，与共享本地呼叫类型的倾向一致。这种特性在进化上不稳定且普遍存在。在亚马逊内，大多数进化枝包含有或没有地理变异的物种，鹦鹉的大多数主要谱系包括具有方言的代表。我们发现几乎没有支持方言隔离种群从而在种群之间产生遗传差异的长期假设。相反，大多数研究支持这样一种观点，即方言是通过匹配本地呼叫类型的社会效益来维持的，这一发现对圈养和濒危种群的管理具有影响。相当大的范围仍然用于通过实验测试这些好处的确切性质的假设的研究，以及使用物种之间的比较的研究，以了解生态之间的相互作用，