Biologists have identified at least 11 different sounds in the turtle repertoire—but they still have no idea what they mean. Christopher Intagliata reports
Sep 4, 2014
| | Biologists used to think turtles belonged to thesilent majorityof reptiles, meaning if turtles made sounds—no one was listening. One went so far as to call them, quote, “deaf as a post.”
But it turns out scientists just weren’t listening hard enough. Because in recent years, biologists have identified at least 11 different sounds in the turtle repertoire < > recorded both in and out of the water. But what do they mean?
In the latest attempt to decode turtle talk, researchers tailed giant South American river turtles—>. The findings appear in the journal . [Camila Rudge Ferrara et al.: ]
The researchers still aren’t sure what any of these sounds actually mean, or whether turtles can recognize each other by voice alone. All the more reason, they say, to use these sounds in playback experiments…, which might get these talking turtles out of their shells.
—Christopher Intagliata
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