NEW YORK (AP) — Horses have a unique way of communicating. They whinny to greet each other, find friends, or celebrate feeding time. But how do they create that distinctive sound? That’s been a mystery for quite some time.
A whinny combines both high and low pitches, almost like a grunt and a squeal happening together. The lower sound comes from air moving through the horse’s vocal cords, similar to how humans speak or sing.
The high-pitched part, however, was more puzzling. Typically, larger animals have larger vocal systems and produce lower sounds. So how do horses manage it?
A recent study has shed light on this. Researchers used a small camera to film inside horses’ noses as they whinnied and made another sound called a nicker. They also conducted scans and blew air through the vocal boxes of deceased horses.
Their findings reveal that the high-pitched tones in a whinny come from a whistling sound originating in the voice box. Air vibrates tissues while a section just above contracts, creating a narrow opening for the whistle. This differs from how humans whistle, which is done with the mouth.
Jenifer Nadeau, a horse expert from the University of Connecticut, expressed surprise at this discovery. “I hadn’t realized there was a whistling part,” she noted, adding that now she can hear it more clearly.
Interestingly, while a few small rodents can whistle, horses are the first large mammals identified with this ability. They can even whistle from their voice boxes while producing other sounds.
Alisa Herbst, from Rutgers University’s Equine Science Center, commented on the study’s significance. She highlighted that the two different pitches in a whinny are generated by two mechanisms, revealing a richer complexity in their communication.
One question still lingers: how did this ability evolve? Some wild horses, like Przewalski’s horses, can also produce similar sounds, but other equine relatives, like donkeys and zebras, cannot make high-pitched calls.
This two-toned whinny could allow horses to share multiple messages at once. Study author Elodie Mandel-Briefer from the University of Copenhagen suggested that the varied pitches enable horses to express a wider range of emotions while socializing. “They can convey feelings in two dimensions,” she explained.
As researchers continue to explore these unique vocalizations, horse lovers and scientists alike are eager to learn more about the social lives of these magnificent animals. The findings offer fresh insights into how horses interact and express themselves, proving once more that nature often holds fascinating secrets just waiting to be uncovered.
For more on equine communication, you can check out the study published in Current Biology.
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Animals, Horses, Science, Jenifer Nadeau
