The discovery is significant not only because people are unaware of these messages, but also because of the insights shared by a team of cognitive biologists and animal sound communication researchers from the University of Vienna, led by Dr. Angela Stoeger. This form of communication can be as loud as the sound of a chainsaw. Elephants can transmit their signals over several kilometers, yet the human ear is unable to distinguish them. This phenomenon involves infrasound, which is the opposite of ultrasound. To clarify, infrasound is associated with frequencies below the range of human hearing, while ultrasound pertains to higher frequencies that humans can perceive. Different animals utilize infrasound and ultrasound in various ways. For instance, bats emit ultrasound, while elephants use their massive organs to produce infrasound, allowing these giants to convey information over long distances. The scientists who uncovered this mystery explained that the sounds made by elephants are generated through the same physical mechanism as human singing and speech.
“These low-frequency sounds, known as infrasounds, can travel several kilometers, providing elephants with a ‘personal’ communication channel that plays a crucial role in their complex social lives. These frequencies are as low as the lowest notes on an organ,” the researchers noted in their report.
What the Scientists Discovered
The authors of the discovery initially had no idea how elephants managed to produce such low sounds. To investigate, the team removed the larynx from a naturally deceased elephant in a laboratory setting and then passed a controlled airflow through it. By manipulating the vocal cords, the scientists were able to recreate the low-frequency vibrations characteristic of the infrasounds produced by elephants. This indicates that when elephants communicate using low-frequency infrasound, they are effectively transmitting signals through a form of vocalization. However, their enormous larynx allows them to reach notes that humans can only dream of. As reported by IFLScience, we cannot inherently create or hear such sounds.
Thus, the team disproved an alternative theory suggesting that elephant infrasounds are similar to purring. Of course, imagining elephants as giant, leathery cats would be quite amusing. However, the previous theory turned out to be false. Consequently, humans have learned even more about animal communication, but we have yet to master conversing with them. Scientists are hopeful that artificial intelligence will soon change this situation. The findings of the study were published in the journal Science.