Researcher Makes First Ever, Recordings of Animals , Assumed to Be Mute.<br />NPR reports that a recent study <br />found that many animal species long <br />believed to be mute do, in fact, vocalize.<br />The paper's lead author, Gabriel Jorgewich Cohen, <br />says that his project began after he read <br />about a turtle in the Amazon making sounds. .<br />The evolutionary biologist, who was working on his PhD at The University of Zurich, went on to record fifty species <br />of turtles, as well as caecilians, tuataras and lungfish.<br />The evolutionary biologist, who was working on his PhD at The University of Zurich, went on to record fifty species <br />of turtles, as well as caecilians, tuataras and lungfish.<br />The evolutionary biologist, who was working on his PhD at The University of Zurich, went on to record fifty species <br />of turtles, as well as caecilians, tuataras and lungfish.<br />Actually every single animal <br />I recorded made sounds, John Wiens, Professor of ecology and evolutionary <br />biology at the University of Arizona, via NPR.<br />According to Cohen, the research <br />points to a common ancestor that <br />lived some 407 million years ago.<br />Neil Kelley, a paleontologist at Vanderbilt University, points out the difficulty of studying and <br />tracking animal sounds over millions of years. .<br />It's very hard to trace that in the fossil <br />record, because sounds obviously <br />don't fossilize and most vocal <br />equipment is soft tissue-based, John Wiens, Professor of ecology and evolutionary <br />biology at the University of Arizona, via NPR.<br />John Wiens, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology <br />at the University of Arizona, suggests that Cohen's work <br />is an important step toward furthering our understanding.<br />If you don't record these sounds and report <br />them, then there's no reason why anybody <br />would study acoustic communication <br />in those things. You don't even know <br />that they're making sounds, John Wiens, Professor of ecology and evolutionary <br />biology at the University of Arizona, via NPR.<br />According to Wiens, the next step it to determine <br />how these animals use these sounds to <br />communicate with one another.
