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Scientists have known for decades that male lab mice produce high-frequency sounds -when they pick up the scent of a female mouse . This high - pitched babble is presumably for courtship ,although scientists are not certain.
"It soon became apparent that these vocalizations were songs",said researcher Timothy Holy ."They sounded a lot like bird songs ." The findings by the researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are published online last Tuesday in the journal Public Library of Science Biology.
If the analysis by the researchers is confirmed, mice can beadded to the short list of creatures that sing in the presence of the opposite sex, including songbirds ,humpback whales , porpoises, insects and ,possibly, bats.
几十年前科学家们就知道，当实验室中的雄性老鼠闻到雌性老鼠的气味时，会发出高频率的声音。据推测，这可能是雄性老鼠在求爱，尽管科学家对这一点还不是很确定。
“很快，我们就知道这些发声法是一种歌声。它们听上去更像鸟儿的歌声。”研究者蒂莫西 霍利说。华盛顿大学圣路易医学院的研究者们上周二把研究结果发表在生物学公共图书馆的网站上。
如果研究者们的分析能够得到证实，老鼠可以加入会在异性面前“唱歌”的生物之列，这类动物包括鸣雀、座头鲸、海豚、昆虫，可能还有蝙蝠。 |
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