Researchers have captured recordings of echidnas cooing, grunting, and making other sounds.
This discovery provides firm evidence that these spiky critters from Australia who eat termites and lay eggs are capable of vocalizing, which has been a topic of debate among scientists for years.) at Dryandra National Park in Western Australia cooed, grunted, wheezed, and exhaled – and a team from Curtin University in Australia, along with colleagues from the UK, recorded them.
"Auditory communication was long considered absent for echidnas, with their only recognized sounds being 'sniffing' noises." Adult echidnas made the sounds when they were solo or hanging out with a fellow echidna. All the recorded vocalizations were made during the breeding season, so it appears to be something they reserve for special occasions.
"Our team managed to capture some of these sounds with hand-held microphones as well as a camera and microphone left unattended at the entrance to a cave popular with echidnas,""Careful analysis of those cooing and grunting sounds showed echidnas are capable of vocalizing, aligning them with most other mammals in their use of acoustic communication.
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