Some biologists have suggested giraffes use low frequency “infrasonic” sounds that are below the level of human perception. Till now, it was believed that giraffes may make sounds but that are not audible by humans like those of elephants, but the new research suggests otherwise.
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It’s long been assumed that unlike other animals, giraffes are largely silent beasts.
According to previous studies, giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis sp.) present a system that exude fission, fusion and social structure.
Scientists can not say what type of communication this may be. With this, the said animals devise strategies to interact with each other in their own ways. The hum isn’t infrasound, but it’s not exactly easy to hear either; Wired notes the researchers shared the vocalizations with zookeepers, and the sound was unfamiliar to them. In a few instances, some researchers have recorded mother giraffes and their newborns vocalizing to each another, and what researchers could hear were instinctual bleats of alarm.
“It could be passively produced – like snoring – or produced during a dream-like state – like humans talking or dogs barking in their sleep”, she said. “The data further reveal that the assumption of infrasonic communication in giraffes needs to be considered with caution and requires further investigations in future studies”.
The hums that were recorded across all three of the giraffe enclosures at night have a frequency of around 92 Hz, which means we can still hear it, but it’s very low.
The study report continues, “These results show that giraffes do produce vocalizations, which based on their acoustic structure, might have the potential of function as communicative signals to convey information about the physical and motivational attributes of the caller”. But scientists are still not sure what these sounds are used for.
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In the past, park rangers and scientists thought that the long necks of giraffes hindered them to have adequate airflow in its trachea that measures about four meters long. But in this new research, which involved quantifying the association between vocal folds and noise production, the experts found that the humming sounds came where it was supposed to be and that giraffe humming was stronger than expected.
