Vocal stereotypy in the rodent genera Peromyscus and Onychomys (Neotominae): taxonomic signature and call design

We examined vocalizations of several species of Peromyscus and Onychomys , a monophyletic group of rodents (Peromyscini). We report stereotypic vocal signals occurring in both sexes of the deer mice Peromyscus californicus , P. eremicus , P. leucopus , P. melanophrys , P. polionotus , and the grasshopper mice Onychomys arenicola and O. leucogaster .

The stereotypic vocalizations of P. eremicus , P. leucopus , and P. polionotus are confined to frequencies greater than 20 kHz, unlike those of Onychomys , which are clearly audible, or P. californicus and P. melanophrys , which generate lower frequency vocalizations than the other Peromyscus . We did not observe stereotypic vocalizations in P. aztecus . Intensity, context and consistency suggest that these vocalizations serve an announcement function.