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A widespread animal communication tempo may resonate with the receiver’s brain

Abstract:
During fieldwork in Thailand, we observed nearly identical tempos of co-located flashing fireflies and chirping crickets. Motivated by this, we survey published data showing that an abundance of evolutionarily distinct species communicate isochronously at ~0.5–4 Hz, suggesting that this might be a tempo “hotspot.” We hypothesize that this timescale may have a universal basis in the biophysics of the receiver’s neurons. We test this by demonstrating that small receiver circuits constructed from elements representing typical neurons will be most responsive in the observed tempo range.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Role:
Author
ORCID:
0009-0005-2390-914X
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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Physics
Sub department:
Theoretical Physics
Role:
Author


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Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/01cmst727
Grant:
MPS-NITMB-00005320
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Grant:
DMS-2235451


Publisher:
Public Library of Science
Journal:
PLoS Biology More from this journal
Volume:
24
Issue:
4
Pages:
e3003735
Article number:
e3003735
Publication date:
2026-04-14
Acceptance date:
2026-03-14
DOI:
EISSN:
1545-7885
ISSN:
1544-9173


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
2412364
Local pid:
pubs:2412364
Source identifiers:
3949607
Deposit date:
2026-04-21
ARK identifier:
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