Since white-throated sparrows share the process with northern cardinals, it's now believed that the singing technique is widespread in all songbirds, whether they produce fast, slow, complicated, or simple songs. The scientists additionally now believe that beak and throat movements in birds, as well as mouth, tongue and lower jaw motions in humans, originated in fish. "The pattern started to evolve when lungfishes started to gulp and swallow air," he explained. In other singing news, University of Miami researchers Bill Searcy and Adrienne DuBois recently discovered that male songbirds, such as the swamp sparrow, can escalate their vocal performance by increasing the frequency range and speed of their songs. Similar to human contestants on shows like "American Idol," songbirds can exceed their expected potential in the heat of competition. "Even in the case of signals whose properties are physically constrained to reflect an individual's abilities, animals exaggerate their signals as much as they can during critical situations," Searcy said. Related Links: National Center for Voice and Speech |
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