A male tree cricket sings from a baffle. Tree crickets are the only crickets known to make baffles which are acoustic tools that increase their singing efficiency immensely. Few other crickets make or use such a tool. (Natasha Mhatre photo)
A male tree cricket sings from a baffle. Tree crickets are the only crickets known to make baffles which are acoustic tools that increase their singing efficiency immensely. Few other crickets make or use such a tool. (Natasha Mhatre photo) When animals 'sing' sitting on the ground- such as when crickets chirp- their volume and reach increase dramatically, by as much as ten-fold. This result from a study by Western researchers, published today in the high impact journal PNAS , contradicts long-held beliefs in the field of animal communication, which presume the ground is a hindrance to sound transmission. Erin Brandt (Faculty of Science photo) "Crickets are a great test case for understanding how communication evolves in animals because there are so many of them," said study lead author Erin Brandt , a former postdoctoral associate in Western's department of biology. "They're spread out across this gigantic evolutionary tree, and they use different strategies to maximize the efficiencies of their calls." Crickets use their wings to make calls or 'chirps' to attract mates.
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