Civet calls like a human being

(While some animals, such as birds or whales, are known for their melodies that contain information, the mongoose let out short cries that listeners only see are sounds. Simple not noticeable.

However, a more thorough study of the mongoose's call indicates that the animal is more capable of expressing in the cry than it was previously thought. In fact, the researchers say that organisms that combine separate units of sound are like a human pairing a consonant with vowels to form a syllable.

'This finding is actually found on' simple 'animals like mongooses, not primates or gibbons,' said researcher David Jansen from the University of Zurich.

Civet

The research results show that simple cries of other species such as frogs or bats may include more complex encoded audio signals.

In this study, Jansen and colleagues tracked the Mangut civet in Western Uganda, in Queen Elizabeth National Park. This predator has relatives of the meerkat civets and is found in the desert of southern Sahara. They live in small flocks, consisting of about 20 adults that together raise their children. Their cries, which last for about 50 to 150 milliseconds and can be interpreted as single syllables, allow them to bond and maintain activities such as finding food.

Researchers record them calling each other and recording their actions at the same time as the cry (for example, searching, digging, moving, etc.). The team found sound signals in their single syllables. The initial sound seems to be to show which member of the group is sounding and the second sound is to indicate which activity is going on.

Jansen said the study showed an unexpected complexity in animal communication.'It shows that mongoose has combined sounds like vowels, which people once thought were only human.' Jansen also said that this could happen in other animals too, and there will be more studies to learn about this.

The study was published in The journal BMC biology last month.