Baby bats babble like human infants (original) (raw)

Repeated vocalizations could help young bats to practise the sounds they will need as adults.

  1. Max Kozlov

Pups of the greater sac-winged bat develop their vocal skills by babbling in a similar way to human babies — a discovery that could help researchers to explore the underlying neuroscience of how mammals learn to communicate with one another.

References

  1. Fernandez, A. A., Burchardt, L. S., Nagy, M. & Knörnschild, M. Science 373, 923–926 (2021).
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  2. Knörnschild, M., Behr, O. & von Helversen, O. Naturwissenschaften 93, 451–454 (2006).
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