Individual differences in infant guinea pig pups isolation whistles

When separated from their mother and other group members, guinea pig Cavia porcellus pups emit distinctive high pitched whistles. To determine if these vocalisations are individually distinctive, we recorded the whistles of isolated guinea pig pups, 8 to 10 days old, and subjected their acoustical parameters to discriminant analysis. The results of the reclassification accuracy were higher than random assignment, indicating the existence of individual differences. Individual pup vocalisations did not differ from one another by any single acoustic parameter, but by a set of parameters. Individual recognition of such isolation calls by mothers could play an important role in facilitating reestablishment of contact.