Studies of chimpanzee vocal communication provide valuable insights into the evolution of communication in complex societies, and also comparative data for understanding the evolution of human language. One particularly valuable dataset of recordings from free-living chimpanzees was collected by Frans X. Plooij and the late Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij at Gombe National Park, Tanzania (1971–73). These audio specimens, which have not yet been analysed, total over 10 h on 28 tapes, including 7 tapes focusing on adult individuals with a total of 605 recordings. In 2014 the first part of that collection of audio specimens covering the vocalizations of the immature Gombe chimpanzees was made available. The data package described here covers the vocalizations of the adult chimpanzees. We expect these recordings will prove useful for studies on topics including referential signalling and the emergence of dialects. The digitized sound recordings were stored in the Macaulay Library and the Dryad Repository. In addition, the original notes on the contexts of the calls were translated and transcribed from Dutch into English.
Dryad Readme file adults
Describing the adult Gombe chimps data package including the unparsed digital copies of the chimp tapes and the metadata for the individual sound recordings.
AdultDirSounds11Dec14Final
Gombe_biography-for_1971-3
The Gombe_biography for the chimpanzee individuals present during the span of time that the recordings were made. The Gombe biography contains 13 columns, but the ones most useful for analyzing the vocalizations are the name of the individual (column B), the birth date (column C), the name of the mother (column H) and the sex of the individual (column I). The columns are explained in Strier et al. [1]. 1. Strier, K.B. et al., The Primate Life History Database: A unique shared ecological data resource. Methods Ecol Evol, 2010, 1(2): p. 199-211.
LIst of adult chimpanzee sounds
A list of names of adult vocalizations and other sounds as used in the spreadsheet (AdultDirSounds11Dec14Final.xls) and the Macaulay Library database. The first column contains the main categories of which the barks, eagle raa, grunts, hoots and screams are the most important. The second column contains the subdivisions of the barks, grunts, hoots and screams. The third column contains all the word variations that were used for each main category or subdivision thereof. Before counting the frequencies of the vocalizations, these word variations were converted into the name of the main category or subdivision thereof.
Adults 1
This 96K/24bit audio file is 60 minutes long and contains 224 unparsed audio specimens of adult chimpanzee vocalizations. Each specimen starts with the recordist's (either Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij or Frans X. Plooij) voice announcement of the cut number.
Adults 2
This 96K/24bit audio file is 31:06 minutes in length and contains 74 unparsed audio specimens of adult chimpanzee vocalizations. Each specimen begins with the recordist's (either Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij or Frans X. Plooij) voice announcement of the cut number.
Adults 3
This 96K/24bit audio file is 16:09 minutes in length and contains 51 unparsed audio specimens of adult chimpanzee vocalizations. Each specimen begins with the recordist's (either Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij or Frans X. Plooij) voice announcement of the cut number.
Adults 4
This 96K/24bit audio file is 23:08 minutes in length and contains 37 unparsed audio specimens of adult chimpanzee vocalizations. Each specimen begins with the recordist's (either Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij or Frans X. Plooij) voice announcement of the cut number.
Adults 5
This 96K/24bit audio file is 36:17 minutes in length and contains 63 unparsed audio specimens of adult chimpanzee vocalizations. Each specimen begins with the recordist's (either Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij or Frans X. Plooij) voice announcement of the cut number.
Adults 6
This 96K/24bit audio file is 36:20 minutes in length and contains 44 unparsed audio specimens of adult chimpanzee vocalizations. Each specimen begins with the recordist's (either Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij or Frans X. Plooij) voice announcement of the cut number.
Adults 7
This 96K/24bit audio file is 20:44 minutes in length and contains 73 unparsed audio specimens of adult chimpanzee vocalizations. Each specimen begins with the recordist's (either Hetty van de Rijt-Plooij or Frans X. Plooij) voice announcement of the cut number.