This week we get an insight to a section of the orchestra
that is close to my heart, the native Australian Marsupials. Marsupials have a
variety of amazing vocalisations that are completely unique and unusual in
their own way. From the bellow of the male koala to the vocalisations of the
Northern quolls, these animals are definitely a show stopper and the orchestra
would not be the same without them.
Firstly the northern quolls, these animals have different
frequencies in their calls (Atikin, 1994). A study was
conducted on these animals which recorded the different vocalisations of the
animals and then they used these recordings to record the response of other
quolls to the initial recording (Atikin, 1994). This study found
that the vocalisations of a common adult have the most energy at the lower end
of the hearing range for these animals and that the frequencies that are
dominant in the isolation calls of the pouch-young lies close to the best
frequency of hearing (Atikin, 1994). They found that one
role of the low frequency part of their hearing concerns the recognition of adult
conspecifics (Atikin, 1994). They found that the
mid- frequency range is most important for the detection of the pouch- young
and the upper range frequencies may be concerned with predator/prey detection (Atikin, 1994).
Like the quolls, the koalas have a range of vocalisations
which are used in different circumstances and at different stages of life. The koala vocalisations are classified as
follows: a squeak, the basic call of the joey; squawk, a sign of mild distress
or aggression; low grunt, the response to very weak stimulus; harsh grunt, used
by males when fighting (Smith, 1980). There are a couple
of vocalisations which are made by the female and they include; the snarl, wail
and scream (Smith, 1980). The bellow is the
most common call for a male in breeding season as it is their mating call and
it consists of a long series of deep, snoring inhalations and belching exhalations (Smith, 1980). The females produce
their own version of this mating call but I generally more softly (Smith, 1980). To hear the extent
of a males mating call, take a look at this video.
This group of animals has a lot more musicians that I have
not mentioned here today and they too have an amazing range of vocalisations.
Works Cited
Atikin, L., 1994.
Hearing, vocalisation and the external ear of a marsupial, the northern quoll.
comparative neurology , 349(3), pp. 377-388.
Smith, m., 1980. Behaviour of koala: vocalisations. australian
wildlife research , 7(1), pp. 13-34.
It's really funny that such a weird noise can come from such a cute animal. Did the study say anything about if the quolls are taught the different noises, or do they instinctively know how to do them? I watched a documentary on prairie dogs which was saying that they have different calls for different types of predators and the young have to be taught each call.
ReplyDeleteA most harmonious way to end your blogs! Thanks for telling us all about our animal music makers and I hope to read up more on this fascinating topic in the future. I’ve enjoyed these animal medleys :)
ReplyDelete