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Singing lemurs may use a soprano-like trick to project songs
Researchers found 83 recordings of 19 wild indris and said the pattern may help the lemurs project calls farther through dense forest.
- On Monday, a study in PLOS Computational Biology revealed that wild Indris in Madagascar use vocalization techniques similar to opera singers, opening their mouths wider to amplify higher-pitched notes.
- By modifying their vocal tract through formant tuning, Indris project sounds over greater distances, allowing their songs to carry through dense rainforest vegetation where visual contact is impossible.
- Researchers analyzed 83 video recordings of 19 wild Indris using markerless motion-tracking technology, observing that every pitch rise corresponded to wider mouth opening, confirming coordination previously seen only in trained human singers.
- Territorial songs advertise presence across landscapes where neighbors remain hidden by vegetation. "It's a beautiful example of communication substituting for conflict," researcher Filippo Carugati said.
- While human and Indris lineages diverged roughly 70 million years ago, scientists attribute this shared acoustic strategy to convergent evolution, providing rare evidence of sophisticated vocal coordination in endangered non-human primates.
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The researchers analyzed 83 videos of 19 wild lemurs from Madagascar
·Belgrade, Serbia
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Singing lemurs may use a soprano-like trick to project songs
When an opera singer reaches for a high note, a subtle shift in the shape of the mouth and throat can make the sound carry farther. New research shows that one of Madagascar's most unusual animals — a singing lemur — may be doing something similar high in the rainforest canopy.
·London, United Kingdom
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Total News Sources18
Leaning Left0Leaning Right3Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution79% Center
Bias Distribution
- 79% of the sources are Center
79% Center
C 79%
R 21%
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