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Chelonian Vocal Communication

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Biocommunication of Animals

Abstract

Recently it was discovered that freshwater turtles communicate underwater by sound. The vocal repertoire of the Western Australian longneck turtle Chelodina colliei includes complex and percussive calls which are harmonically structured and frequency modulated, with dominant frequencies below 1 kHz and a range from around 100 to 3.5 kHz. Sounds with similar characteristics are used by the females of the South American river turtle Podocnemis expansa when migrating to nesting beaches and during communal nesting. Near term embryos inside eggs vocalize, and hatchlings emerging from nests and scampering across the beach and into the river continue to vocalize. In the water the adult females respond and the hatchlings then migrate with the females down the river, presumably to the flooded forests where they feed. Many unexplained aspects of aquatic turtles social behavior may eventually be explained when their vocalizations have been studied.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquatic Biology, Wildlife Conservation Society - WCS Brazil, Avenida das Américas 700, Bloco 6 sala 30. Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 22640-100, Brazil

    Camila R. Ferrara

  2. Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians, Department of Biodiversity, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA, Av. Andre Araujo 2936, Petrópolis, Manaus, AM, CEP 69060-001, Brazil

    Richard C. Vogt

  3. 97, Glen Forrest, Perth, 6071, Western Australia, Australia

    Jacqueline C. Giles

  4. School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Perth, 6009, Western Australia, Australia

    Gerald Kuchling

Authors
  1. Camila R. Ferrara
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  2. Richard C. Vogt
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  3. Jacqueline C. Giles
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  4. Gerald Kuchling
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerald Kuchling .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Telos - Philosophische Praxis, Bürmoos, Austria

    Guenther Witzany

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Ferrara, C.R., Vogt, R.C., Giles, J.C., Kuchling, G. (2014). Chelonian Vocal Communication. In: Witzany, G. (eds) Biocommunication of Animals. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7414-8_15

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