Silent to Sound: How 50 Species Prove Vertebrates Talk
New research reveals that more than fifty animal species once labeled as silent actually communicate with voiced sounds. The finding suggests that vocal behavior may trace back to a common ancestor more than 400 million years ago, spanning a broad swath of vertebrates including some turtles that produce audible signals.
Published in a high-profile scientific journal, the study explores the roots of vocalization in land-dwelling vertebrates. The results indicate that the capacity for sound production is at least as old as the last shared ancestor of living terrestrial vertebrates, dating back roughly 407 million years. This challenges the idea that vocal communication emerged multiple times in separate lineages and points to a deep, shared origin.
Across many vertebrate groups, vocal sounds play a crucial part in behaviors that shape survival and reproduction. Birds sing, frogs croak, and dogs bark. Within the animal world, echolike signals support parental care, mate attraction, territory defense, and social bonding. The new work broadens this view by showing notable acoustic abilities in species previously considered nonvocal.
In an international effort led by researchers at a major European university, the project aimed to map vocal behavior across taxa that had limited prior study. The team examined 53 species from four major groups of terrestrial vertebrates, collecting sound recordings and contextual notes about behaviors that accompany sound production.
This comprehensive dataset, when combined with an extensive literature compilation that covered hundreds of species, indicates that vocal communication is widespread among terrestrial vertebrates. It also suggests that many groups once dismissed as nonvocal possess meaningful acoustic repertoires.
Among turtles, the perception of quietness can be misleading. Researchers looked at a broader set of taxa, including lizards, snakes, salamanders, amphibians, and lungfish, using acoustic recordings and phylogenetic methods to trace the evolution of vocal traits. The goal was to understand how acoustic communication emerged and diversified across the vertebrate family tree.
The study’s lead scientist notes that an early spark of curiosity about turtle vocality occurred during field work in the Amazon region. Initial observations led to home recordings of a pet turtle, which unexpectedly demonstrated audible signals. This prompted researchers to expand the investigation and apply hydrophones for underwater sound capture, enriching the data on turtle and related species.
As the project expanded, researchers integrated information from familiar vocal clades such as mammals, birds, and frogs to build a cohesive evolutionary map. The team concluded that acoustic communication is a shared feature dating back to the era of their ancient common ancestor, approximately 407 million years ago. The finding emphasizes a single, ancient origin rather than repeated innovations across lineages.
Despite the strong case for a single origin, some scientists have previously favored a convergent view, suggesting that similar auditory systems and vocal tracts could lead to independent evolutions of sound production. The new results, however, argue for a common ancestral source of vocal communication, with subsequent diversification shaping how each group uses sound in its own ecological context.
Researchers stress that further study will refine the timeline and reveal how vocal traits interact with hearing sensitivity and social behavior across many species. The project underscores how even species long thought quiet may participate in a complex acoustic world, inviting a broader look at animal communication beyond the familiar birds and mammals.
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