The capacity to learn and reproduce vocal sounds has evolved in phylogenetically distant tetrapod lineages. Vocal learners in all these lineages express similar neural circuitry and genetic factors when perceiving, processing, and reproducing vocalization, suggesting that brain pathways for vocal learning evolved within strong constraints from a common ancestor, potentially fish. We hypothesize that the auditory-motor circuits and genes involved in entrainment have their origins in fish schooling behavior and respiratory-motor coupling. In this acoustic advantages hypothesis, aural costs and benefits played a key role in shaping a wide variety of traits, which could readily be exapted for entrainment and vocal learning, including social grouping, group movement, and respiratory-motor coupling. Specifically, incidental sounds of locomotion and respiration (ISLR) may have reinforced synchronization by communicating important spatial and temporal information between school-members and extending windows of silence to improve situational awareness. This process would be mutually reinforcing. Neurons in the telencephalon, which were initially involved in linking ISLR with forelimbs, could have switched functions to serve vocal machinery (e.g. mouth, beak, tongue, larynx, syrinx). While previous vocal learning hypotheses invoke transmission of neurons from visual tasks (gestures) to the auditory channel, this hypothesis involves the auditory channel from the onset. Acoustic benefits of locomotor-respiratory coordination in fish may have selected for genetic factors and brain circuitry capable of synchronizing respiratory and limb movements, predisposing tetrapod lines to synchronized movement, vocalization, and vocal learning. We discuss how the capacity to entrain is manifest in fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals, and propose predictions to test our acoustic advantages hypothesis.

中文翻译：

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脊椎动物的声乐学习能力是否根植于鱼类的学习行为？

学习和再现人声的能力已经在系统发生距离遥远的四足动物谱系中发展。在感知，处理和复制发声时，所有这些谱系中的发声学习者都表达相似的神经回路和遗传因素，这表明发声学习的大脑途径是在共同祖先（可能是鱼类）的强大约束下演变而来的。我们假设听觉运动回路和参与诱捕的基因起源于鱼类的放养行为和呼吸运动耦合。在这种声学优势假设，听觉上的成本和收益在塑造各种特征中起着关键作用，这些特征很容易被引诱和发声学习，包括社交团体，群体运动和呼吸运动耦合。具体而言，偶然的运动和呼吸声（ISLR）通过在学校成员之间交流重要的时空信息并扩展沉默窗口以提高态势感知，可以增强同步性。这个过程将是相辅相成的。最初涉及将ISLR与前肢联系在一起的末梢神经元可能具有切换功能，以服务于声乐机械（例如嘴，喙，舌头，喉，syrinx）。先前的语音学习假设会调用神经元从视觉任务（手势）到听觉通道的传输，这个假设从一开始就涉及听觉通道。鱼中运动与呼吸协调的声学优势可能已被选择用于遗传因素和能够同步呼吸和肢体运动，使四脚架系易于同步运动，发声和发声学习的大脑电路。我们讨论了在鱼类，两栖动物，鸟类和哺乳动物中如何表现出夹带能力，并提出了预测以检验我们的声学优势假设。