Baby bats babble like human infants, study finds
- Bryan Walsh, author of Axios Future
A greater sac-winged bat, or what you may begin to think your crying baby looks like after you've been up all night. Photo: Michael Stifter
A new study found striking similarities between the babbling sounds of infants and those of baby greater sac-winged bats.
Why it matters: In both cases, babbling seems to have evolved as a precursor to more complex vocal behaviors like talking in humans and "singing" in adult bats.
How it works: While the bats' babbling doesn't sound much like human infants — unless your baby also produces high-pitched chirping tones, in which case you may want to contact your pediatrician or the Weekly World News — it has a similar rhythmic, non-random pattern.
What's next: Researchers hope the apparent similarities in infant babbling across species may eventually reveal common genes for vocalization.