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Description
In animal societies, acoustic communication is deeply connected to group behaviour and social network structure, coordinating group decisions and maintaining relationships. Yet research on social behaviour and vocal communication has often proceeded in parallel, largely because it is difficult to track interactions while simultaneously attributing vocalisations to multiple nearby individuals. Here, we evaluate the performance of an acoustic camera (array-based acoustic imaging) for resolving multi-individual vocal dynamics in a family group of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). The system’s spatial, spectral and temporal resolution enabled separation of overlapping calls and localisation of callers even when individuals were in close proximity. Specifically, the camera (i) disentangled concurrent marmoset vocalisations, (ii) resolved callers separated by as little as 3 cm, and (iii) correctly assigned 94% of vocalisations to a single individual. These results indicate that acoustic imaging can capture within-group vocal interactions at fine spatial and temporal scales, providing a tractable bridge between social network analysis and communication research.
