Meows of captive feral domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) in the mating season: acoustic correlates of caller identity and sex

This study investigates the frequency, temporal and power parameters in 11 (5 males, 6 females) captive feral domestic cats Felis silvestris catus, vocalising in their individual outdoor enclosures during the mating season. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) classified the meows to correct callers with 79.2% accuracy, which exceeded the chance level of 22.9 +/- 2.8%, calculated with permutation test. Male meows were lower-frequency, with the maximum fundamental frequency of 0.37 +/- 0.05 kHz vs 0.61 +/- 0.16 kHz in females. Sex differences in the maximum, beginning and end fundamental frequencies varied from 32 to 39%, depending on acoustic parameter. The DFA classified the meows to correct sex with accuracy of 88.0%, which exceeded the chance level of 58.2 +/- 3.1%. We discuss that the meows encode information about individual identity and sex and that acoustic differences in frequency parameters of the meows exceed sexual dimorphism of body size in domestic cat.

Automated summary

This study investigated the frequency, temporal, and power parameters of vocalizations in captive feral domestic cats during the mating season. The results showed that meows encode information about individual identity and sex, and the frequency differences in the meows exceed sexual dimorphism in body size in domestic cats.