How ‘mute’ animals actually communicate vocally

A rare type of reptile found only in New Zealand called a tuatara, the only surviving member of an order called Rhynchocephalia which once spanned the globe. Photo: AFP

More than 50 animal species previously thought to be mute actually communicate vocally, according to a study published on Oct 25 which suggested the trait may have evolved in a common ancestor over 400 million years ago.

The lead author of the study, evolutionary biologist Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen, said he first had the idea of recording apparently mute species while researching turtles in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest.