Perception of Male Caller Identity in Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus): Acoustic Analysis and Playback Experiments

The ability to signal individual identity using vocal signals and distinguish between conspecifics based on vocal cues is important in several mammal species. Furthermore, it can be important for receivers to differentiate between callers in reproductive contexts. In this study, we used acoustic analyses to determine whether male koala bellows are individually distinctive and to investigate the relative importance of different acoustic features for coding individuality. We then used a habituation-discrimination paradigm to investigate whether koalas discriminate between the bellow vocalisations of different male callers. Our results show that male koala bellows are highly individualized, and indicate that cues related to vocal tract filtering contribute the most to vocal identity. In addition, we found that male and female koalas habituated to the bellows of a specific male showed a significant dishabituation when they were presented with bellows from a novel male. The significant reduction in behavioural response to a final rehabituation playback shows this was not a chance rebound in response levels. Our findings indicate that male koala bellows are highly individually distinctive and that the identity of male callers is functionally relevant to male and female koalas during the breeding season. We go on to discuss the biological relevance of signalling identity in this species' sexual communication and the potential practical implications of our findings for acoustic monitoring of male population levels

High-power multimode X-band rf pulse compression system for future linear colliders

We present a multimode X-band rf pulse compression system suitable for a TeV-scale electron-positron linear collider such as the Next Linear Collider (NLC). The NLC main linac operating frequency is 11.424 GHz. A single NLC rf unit is required to produce 400 ns pulses with 475 MW of peak power. Each rf unit should power approximately 5 m of accelerator structures. The rf unit design consists of two 75 MW klystrons and a dual-moded resonant-delay-line pulse compression system that produces a flat output pulse. The pulse compression system components are all overmoded, and most components are designed to operate with two modes. This approach allows high-power-handling capability while maintaining a compact, inexpensive system. We detail the design of this system and present experimental cold test results. We describe the design and performance of various components. The high-power testing of the system is verified using four 50 MW solenoid-focused klystrons run off a common 400 kV solid-state modulator. The system has produced 400 ns rf pulses of greater than 500 MW. We present the layout of our system, which includes a dual-moded transmission waveguide system and a dual-moded resonant line (SLED-II) pulse compression system. We also present data on the processing and operation of this system, which has set high-power records in coherent and phase controlled pulsed rf