53 animals are commonly assumed to be silent. In an effort to establish when acoustic communication began in evolutionary history, a family tree of vocalizations was created and added to the family tree.
The four animal clades that finally made the news include 50 turtle species, South American lungfish, and 50 turtle species.Lepidosiren paradoxa), a limbless amphibian called Cayenne caecilian (Typhlonectes compressionicauda), and a reptile from New Zealand known as a tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus).
The authors found that all recorded species possess an extensive acoustic repertoire, which includes a variety of sounds. Conclusion.
It is strongly suggested that vocal sound production is an ancestral trait of all turtle species.
The turtle data was combined with the analysis of 1,800 vertebrates with lung function, and researchers found evidence of a common source of sound production and acoustic communication among all animals with enough backbone to draw breath and exhale it.
Although amphibians, reptiles, and amphibians are less well-studied, that doesn’t mean that they don’t make noise.
Researchers are needed to discover how acoustic communication developed. ArgumentWe must systematically document these “key, overlooked groups”.
This is precisely what the current study tried to prove. While the authors searched only for sound production from 106 neglected species, they were still capable of finding dozens of examples in the literature of acoustic communication. Even though the sample is small, it’s clear that animal sound has evolved from much earlier.
According to the dominant theory about acoustic communications, this basic trait was present throughout the animal life cycle. This theory is based upon the apparent wide range of vocal morphologies and ear structures that can be found in birds and mammals.
However, this new phylogenetic analysis shows that it is not true. It’s possible that these skills share a common origin, as animals from different parts of the tree have similar sound production methods and are used for communication, mating, or parenting. It could have evolved once before diverging.
The trait may actually be a result of a common ancestor to many modern vertebrates who lived 407 million year ago. This date could be even further pushed back if you take into account the links between swim bladders and lungs.
“Our results show that acoustic communications did not evolve in different clades multiple times, but rather has an ancient evolutionary origin.” Ends paleobiologist Marcelo Sánchez from the University of Zurich in Switzerland.
These findings serve as a reminder that even though an animal may be difficult to hear, it doesn’t necessarily mean we should not listen to them.
The study was published by Nature Communications.
