The ‘Ah!’ of the Prairie Vole: Is it Just a Simple Call, or a Secret Mockery?
A: ‘Look, look, that person just passed by is so handsome, and the color of their clothes is also very nice.’
B: ‘Which one are you talking about? It's so-so.’
It’s Chinese New Year, basking in the sunshine and chatting about gossip scenes, which may not be just humans, but also prairie voles.
New research suggests that prairie voles also chat about gossip, discussing the colors, body shapes, and whether visitors are carrying weapons of other animals, so when you pass by its side, they might secretly call you ‘fat’.
Prairie voles, the ‘McNuggets’ of the grassland, support 136 species.
Prairie voles, originally known as prairie dogs, the genus has a total of 5 species, all belonging to the squirrel family.
Prairie voles are highly valued due to their significant ecological advantages.
They are social animals, living in a large group or a small cooperative group called a ‘town’, they never leave their group and territory, where they build complex underground tunnels and caves, these interconnected tunnels and caves provide habitat for long-eared rabbits, frogs, and rattlesnakes.
The open grasslands formed by grazing and digging attract a large number of insects, indirectly feeding various birds.
Prairie voles, a chubby small mammal, are the food for various animals on the grassland, from wolve to eagles, and even the endangered black-footed ferret, prairie voles are like ‘McNuggets’ on the grassland, their existence, at least provides support for 136 other species.
Astonishing linguistic ability
For humans, the squeaks of prairie voles sound simple and repetitive.
But recent research has found that these sounds can convey incredibly descriptive details, it is currently one of the few animals that can chat about gossip, and its vocabulary is higher than any other animal.
To study their language, scientists let a group of people with different clothing colors and different body shapes pass in front of the prairie voles, they recorded their squeaks and analyzed them with computers.
The results were surprising, they not only can describe the colors of people's clothing, people's size and shape, whether they are carrying weapons, and even can describe abstract shapes such as circles and triangles.
So much information can be conveyed in one tenth of a second, for example: a tall and thin man wearing a blue shirt walking slowly through the grassland.
So much information can be replaced with one ‘ah’.
Finally
Humans have never thought that animals possess linguistic talent, but the performance of prairie voles is really surprising to many people, not only do they use simple sounds to evade predators, but they also use them to chat about gossip.
Scientists believe that studying animal language is very meaningful, and it is a tool for communication between humans and animals.
In the next 5 to 10 years, we might have a device the size of a mobile phone, when a dog says ‘woof’, the phone might display ‘I want to eat chicken tonight’ ; or a cat will say ‘meow’, this device will display ‘My trash can is dirty, please clean it’.
