Can Mice Sing? Scientists Say Vocal Learning Ability is Akin to Songbirds and Humans

Mice may have more in common with songbirds than scientists ever thought before, according to a recent study in the journal Plos One.

While mice communicate at pitches inaudible to people, research has shown that they are likely one of the few species of animals that have the ability to engage in "vocal learning," joining the ranks of sea lions, bats, dolphins, elephants, whales, and birds.  Specifically, the team behind the study observed a "convergence" of vocal frequency in male mice, both when they share a living space and compete for a mate. Dr Erich Jarvis of Duke University in North Carolina reveals, "when we put a female in the cage with two males, we then found that one male would change his pitch to match the other. It was usually the smaller animal changing the pitch to match the larger animal."

Jarvis adds, "In mice we find the pathways that are at least modulating these vocalizations are in the forebrain, in places where you actually find them in humans."  

While mice share this similarity with humans, the Duke University professor states that their vocal capabilities are "intermediate," ranging "between a chicken and a song bird or even a non human primate and a human."

The study involved 12 mouse pairs and provided results that Jarvis calls "quite reliable and statistically significant."

Overall, Dr. Jarvis concludes: "We are claiming that mice have limited versions of the brain and behavior traits for vocal learning that are found in humans for learning speech and in birds for learning song."