Animals can talk over huge distances – but humans might be changing their range Animals on land and sea use sound for different purposes – and alterations in their environment can change the effect it has

theconversation.com/animals-can-...

@besmacro.bsky.social

@britishecologicalsociety.org @sse-evolution.bsky.social @linneansociety.bsky.social @lifesciencenet.bsky.social @leec-uspn.bsky.social @systbiol.bsky.social @asab.org

#evolution #animalcommunication #newresearch #ecology #biology #conservation #animalsounds #macroecology #acoustics

@unswbees.bsky.social @aunz.theconversation.com @eseb.bsky.social @abcmicrogrants.bsky.social @society4conbio.bsky.social @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social @marinemammalogy.bsky.social @animal-prattle.bsky.social @behaveco.bsky.social @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social

We don't know what effects these changes may have on life history, behaviour or fitness. But if we know what to expect, we might be able to make decisions which help out animals and the environment.

In a world where we are reducing animal body sizes through overharvesting and climate change, and clearing land for development and agriculture, we may be changing the ranges at which animals speak with one another.

On land, the story is very different. How big your home range is, whether your call is territorial, whether the environment is open or densely vegetated, and if you're social or solitary affect how far your sounds travel.

We found that in the water, aquatic mammals make sounds that go hundreds or thousands of km's based on their body size.

Blue Whale and a Freediver by Darin Sakdatorn/AdobeStock

Ben JJ Walker / UNSW Sydney, CC BY-NC-ND

Super excited to share that the first article from my PhD has been published!

Taking 60 years of research, we looked at how long distance vocal communication in aquatic and land mammals has evolved and why.

Read here: tinyurl.com/3eydkwwc

The Conversation article: tinyurl.com/mryr7sme

A really great set of resources for people interested in animal communication! Thanks Kitzes Lab (courtesy Tessa Rhinehart & David Nicholson)

What a wonderful paper and awesome insight into the evolution of female bird song! Congrats to Karan Odam, Lauryn Benedict and co!

Out tracking Mulgara in Central Australia.

A photo of a leopard, taken by me in Botswana.

A bat echolocating to find its prey.

Hi everyone! 👋

I've made the move to Bluesky from the other one 🌿

I'm an evolutionary ecologist and teacher of science things at UNSW 🐳🐸🐆

I'm interested in all things related to vertebrate #ecology, #evolution, #morphology - but am especially interested in #bioacoustics & #animalcommunication 🐘🐒