Prairie Voles: The Gossipmongers of the Grassland, Discussing Weight and Passersby's Appearance
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 sun and chatting about gossip scenes, not just humans, but also prairie voles.
New research shows that prairie voles also chat about gossip, discussing the clothes colors, body sizes, and whether other people are carrying weapons of passersby, so when you walk past its side, they might secretly call you 'fat' privately.
Prairie voles, the ‘McNuggets’ of the grassland, support 136 species.
Prairie voles, originally known as prairie dogs, there are a total of 5 species in this genus, all belonging to the squirrel family.
Prairie voles are highly valued for their ecological advantages.
They are social animals, living in a large group or a small cooperative group called ‘towns’, they never leave their group and territory, where they build complex underground tunnels and caves, and these four-way and cave tunnels provide habitats for long-eared hares, toads, and rattlesnakes.
The grassland formed by eating grass and digging holes attracts a large number of insects, indirectly feeding a variety of birds.
Prairie voles, a chubby small mammal, on the grassland, they are the food for all kinds of animals, from wolves to eagles, and even endangered black-footed ferrets, prairie voles are like ‘McNuggets’ on the grassland, their existence at least supports 136 other species.
Amazing linguistic talent
For humans, the squeaking sounds of prairie voles sound simple and repetitive.
But recent research shows that these sounds can convey incredibly descriptive details, and they are currently one of the few animals that have the ability to chat about gossip, with a vocabulary that is higher than any other animal.
To study their language, scientists let a group of people with different clothing colors and body sizes pass in front of the prairie voles, they recorded their calls and analyzed them with computers.
The results were surprising, they could not only describe the color of people's clothes, people's size and shape, whether they were carrying weapons, but also describe abstract shapes like circles and triangles.
Amazingly, all this information can be conveyed in just one tenth of a second of sound, for example: a tall and thin man wearing a blue shirt walking slowly in the grassland.
So much information can be conveyed with just one 'aa'!
Finally
Humans have always thought that animals don't have linguistic talent, but prairie voles have really surprised many people, they not only use simple sounds to avoid predators, but also use them to chat about gossip.
Scientists believe that studying animal language is meaningful and is a tool for communication between humans and animals.
In the next 5 to 10 years, we may have a device as big as a mobile phone, when a dog says ‘woof’, the phone may display ‘I want to eat chicken tonight’; or a cat will say ‘meow’, the device will display ‘my trash can is dirty, please clean it’.
