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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Hippos know strangers’ voices — and make a filthy reply

The mammoth mammals can use each other’s ‘wheeze-honks’ to distinguish between neighbours and strangers.
A hippopotamus with a wide open mouth in the water.

That familiar voice: hippos can tell members of their own groups from strangers by listening to their vocalizations. Credit: Nicolas Mathevon

Hippos can recognize each other’s honking voices — and aggressively spray dung when they hear from hippo groups they dislike1.

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Nature 602, 10 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00173-9

References

  1. Thévenet, J., Grimault, N., Fonseca, P. & Mathevon, N. Curr. Biol. 32, R70–R71 (2022).

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