Washington, Jan 6 (IANS) Scientists comparing hundreds of calls of insects and other animals have discerned common threads tying all of them.
Compiling data from nearly 500 species, researchers at the University of Florida (UF) and Oklahoma State University have found that the calls of crickets, whales and other creatures are controlled by their metabolic rates - their uptake and use of energy.

“Very few people have compared cricket chirps to codfish sounds to the sounds made by whales and monkeys to see if there were commonalities in the key features of acoustic signals,” said James Gillooly, assistant biology professor at the UF.

“Our results indicate that, for all species, basic features of acoustic communication are primarily controlled by individual metabolism. So, when the calls are adjusted for an animal’s size and temperature, they even sound alike,” added Gillooly.

The finding will help scientists understand how acoustic communication evolved across species, uniting a field of study that has long focussed on the calls of particular groups of animals, such as birds.

Acoustic signals are used to transfer information among species that is required for survival, growth and reproduction, Gillooly said.

The findings were reported in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.