5 Animals You Didn’t Know
Could Sing
“1. Mice
Not
only can mice sing, they also may be able to learn vocalizations from hearing
other mice. Only humans, songbirds, parrots, & hummingbirds were thought to
be capable of vocal learning, but a 2012 PLOS One study suggests that ‘mice
have limited versions of the brain & behavior traits for vocal learning
that are found in humans for learning speech & in birds for learning
song,’…
Moreover,
the scientists found that male mice actually rely on ‘auditory feedback’ to
make their songs & that…mice sing in pitch…
2. Toadfish
Toadfish
sing — or, to human ears, hum — for the same reasons male mice do: to attract females.
While these sounds are ‘not as complex as what you hear mammals & birds
doing,’ fish are not silent denizens of the waters, Andrew H. Bass, a professor
of neurobiology & behavior at Cornell University, notes to MSNBC.
3. Male Mexican Free-Tailed Bats
Male
Mexican free-tailed bats also sing supersonic songs to court females,
researchers from Texas A&M University found. When the bats‘songs are
directed at fellow males, these tunes are not intended to be welcoming.
Not
every animal that sings does so for, well, sex. Harris’ antelope squirrels
trill to communicate for safety reasons. The squirrels live in desert
environments in the southwestern U.S. At the entrances of their burrows, they
are known to pause, stamp their forefeet and vocalize before entering. The
small rodents must constantly remain alert, as coyotes, hawks, snakes and
bobcats prey on them.
I still
remember excitedly pulling the little plastic recording of humpback whale songs
from an issue of National Geographic. The sounds were nothing I had ever heard,
and the fact that they came from a creature who lived deep in the ocean made
them even more intriguing. Killer whales or orcas, also sing using ultrasonic
vocalizations and have dialects. Beluga whales have a whole repertoire of
“chirps, squeaks and clips” and are rightly dubbed “sea canaries.”
There’s
a lot to hear out there in the natural world. All the more reason to keep up
the fight against noise pollution and listen for the sounds we haven’t yet
heard.”
Kristina
C.
Feb.
24/ 2018
Care2.com
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