{"id":13038,"date":"2022-05-13T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T03:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=119382"},"modified":"2022-05-13T05:24:12","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T03:24:12","slug":"inflating-animals-7-incredible-creatures-that-blow-up-like-balloons","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/inflating-animals-7-incredible-creatures-that-blow-up-like-balloons\/","title":{"rendered":"Inflating animals: 7 incredible creatures that blow up like balloons"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jules Howard\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 13 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Inflation is a useful tool in nature, allowing animals to project sounds, scare off predators or even attract a mate. Let\u2019s bring on the bloat!<\/p>\n

Painted tree frog<\/h2>\n

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Mexico<\/h3>\n
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Painted tree frog \u00a9 Kevin Schafer\/Minden\/naturepl.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This painted tree frog produces a piercing screech that differs slightly in pitch to closely related species. To maintain the call for as long as possible, it squeezes the same breath of air back and forth across the larynx, creating a trilling sound.<\/p>\n

This is just one of thousands of different kinds of frog calls, each unique to its own given species. \u201cVocal sacs differ enormously across frogs,\u201d says herpetologist Dr Mark Scherz<\/a> of the Natural History Museum of Denmark. \u201cSome species have single sacs, some have paired sacs, some sacs even expand substantially down the body or expand hugely in front of the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even female frogs have taken to inflation. In 2021, scientists in Minnesota discovered that female green tree frogs inflate their lungs to cancel out the calls of rival species<\/a>. The exact mechanism that causes this noise-cancelling effect is yet to be fully understood, but it is likely to help females locate males when multiple species congregate together at breeding ponds.<\/p>\n

Greater Sage Grouse<\/h2>\n

South Dakota, USA<\/h3>\n
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Greater sage grouse \u00a9 Gerrit Vyn\/naturepl.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In birds, the voice box (called the syrinx) is double-barrelled. Some species, such as the greater sage grouse, also have a pair of vocal sacs, kept within a flexible throat pouch. As soundwaves escape from the syrinx they resonate against the elastic membrane of each sac which, as it inflates, is pulled taut like the skin of a drum. The throat pouch can also be brushed against the feathers on the wings to make a dramatic whooshing sound.<\/p>\n

The resulting courtship noises are what evolutionary ecologist Prof Gail Patricelli<\/a> calls a \u201cswish, swish, coo, pop, whistle, pop,\u201d performed while the male struts in front of potential mates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first notes sound like the swish of corduroys. That\u2019s followed by a gurgling or bubbling sound that comes out from the chest and through the vocal sacs,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

The final flourish is, quite literally, a boom \u2013 a loud, deep, resonant sound that can be heard more than a mile away.<\/p>\n

On the whole, because larger animal bodies have longer vocal tracts and more spacious voice boxes, large animals make deeper calls than small animals. Yet, by allowing certain body parts to be inflated, natural selection has stumbled upon a mechanism to rig the system and allow medium-sized animals to make sounds many times greater than their size should allow.<\/p>\n