53 marine animals that were previously believed to be mute can actually communicate, according to a biologist.
Gabriel Jorgewich-Cohen argues that although the species had been communicating with us for a long time, we had never stopped to pay attention to them.
He recorded the species, including turtles, as they communicated their desire to mate or hatch from the egg using microphones.
It is claimed that the findings rewrite part of what is known about evolution.
They contend that 400 million years ago, all vertebrates that can breathe through their noses and communicate through sound descended from a single progenitor.
The question of whether living things descended from a single ancestor or from several origins is a contentious one in evolutionary biology.
Mr. Jorgewich-Cohen, a PhD candidate at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, started his research on the theory that aquatic species might use sound to communicate.
53 species kept in captivity around the world, including Chester Zoo in England, were captured using sound and video equipment by the researcher.
50 turtles, a tuatara, a lungfish, and a caecilian were among the species.
