The Singing Mice of the Cloud Forest
In the misty mountain forests of Costa Rica, small brown mice sing to each other, in long trilling songs that rise and fall like birdsong.
What was reported
Alston's brown mouse lives in the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama. The males sing: they stand up, throw their heads back and let out a rapid string of high trills, up to about twenty notes a second, lasting several seconds. Much of it is too high-pitched for people to hear clearly.
The mice answer one another, taking turns like people in a conversation, and they can cut in quickly when a rival starts.
Explanations offered
The songs help males attract mates and warn off rivals. In 2019, neuroscientists studying the mice found the part of the brain that controls their quick back-and-forth, which may help explain how human conversation works.
- When
- Studied since the 2000s
- Where
- Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Witnesses
- Biologists and forest visitors
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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