Toothed whales catch food in the deep using vocal fry register

Dolphins and other toothed whales are large brained top predators that captivate our imagination; they are extremely social, they cooperate, and can hunt prey down to 2 km deep in complete darkness with echolocation.

Research explains basics of aerosol formation at the vocal folds

Very small exhaled droplets, so-called aerosol particles, play an important role in the airborne transmission of pathogens such as the coronavirus. Researchers in the field of fluid mechanics used a model to investigate how ...

Seals have a sense of rhythm

Rhythm is important for human music and speech. But are we the only mammal with a sense of rhythm? In an experimental study published in Biology Letters, a team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics ...

Recordings show some 'mute' animals communicate vocally: Study

More than 50 animal species previously thought to be mute actually communicate vocally, according to a study published on Tuesday which suggested the trait may have evolved in a common ancestor over 400 million years ago.

Simplified voice box enriches human speech

An ongoing debate among scientists, on why chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates cannot speak or sing like humans, has focused mainly on evolutionary changes in human brain development. Attention has now expanded to anatomical ...

A new approach to identify mammals good at learning sounds

Why are some animals good at learning sounds? Did this skill appear when animals started "faking" their body size by lowering calls? In a new study on a wide range of mammals, Andrea Ravignani from the Max Planck Institute ...

Bats can use 'vocal learning' to change their tune

Humans learn to speak by mimicking speech sounds. Are there other mammals who can learn sounds by imitation? In an experimental study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen and the Ludwig ...

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