Rodents Like to Whistle a Tune

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Rodents like rats and mice use (USVs) to communicate similar to the edge-tone mechanism used in a police whistle. Rodents are the only species that produces a whistling sound similar to human whistling. A combination of “imaging technology” and “tissue staining” was used to produce a 3-dimensional image that shows the structures that make up the site of sound production in a rodent’s larynx; which is approximately the size of a pinhead. Because of the size of the rodent’s larynx is so small it has not been well studied or understood. The ultrasonic vocalizations found in rodents work in the same fashion as a whistle or flute. An airstream is directed against a sharp edge causing the connecting air column within a tube into regular pulsations, producing sound. In the case of rodents, an air sac-like nook works as a resonator that magnifies the sound. USVs are also studied to help investigate people with autism spectrum disorders.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rodents-like-whistle-tune-randy-bilesky/?published=t

http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-rodents-like-to-whistle-a-tune-1.23085449