FIFE, Scotland (Achieve3000, July 22, 2019). Ever had a chat with something not quite human, like a cat or a dog? What about a bird or an ape?! You might chuckle at the idea, but surely you've heard of talented parrots imitating human phrases like, "Polly want a cracker," and maybe you know about Koko the gorilla or Lucy the chimp, both of whom were proficient enough in sign language to converse with zoologists. So it looks like we humans aren't the only ones in the animal kingdom with a gift for gab!
And now there's a new smooth talker on the scene to add to all that critter chatter. This creature is a member of the animal kingdom that loves seafood, and the kind of cool customer that can spend as much time lounging on the beach as swimming in the ocean. But this blubbery mammal doesn't actually talk—it sings!
We're referring to the seal, of course—specifically, the gray seal, a species found in the waters of the North Atlantic. A team of researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland found that, with training and when enticed with a fishy treat, gray seals can be taught to sing the first few notes of songs, including "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and the theme from Star Wars.
But how do you train a seal? It's actually not too different from training a dog: All you need is a tasty reward (and a little bit of patience). The researchers started the process by recording the seals making their ordinary yips and barks; then they played those recordings back to the seals, offering them a fish as a reward whenever they imitated the sounds they heard on tape. Once the seals learned how easy it was to get treats, it was smooth sailing!
The researchers eventually played human sounds and simple tunes to test whether the seals would mimic those in the same way they did their own sounds. You can guess what happened next: The seals belted out (or barked out!) their own renditions of the tunes! A seal named Zola was the most musically inclined of the bunch, but her pals Janice and Gandalf were also able to produce impressive combinations of human-like vowel sounds.
So why in the world did researchers want seals to try to sing? Because the way seals produce sounds is very similar to the way humans do, making seals optimal test subjects. By studying how seals control their vocal cords when they serenade, scientists think they can come to a better understanding of how mammals—including humans—learn or relearn to speak, which could result in new treatments for people who need speech therapy.
Which information is not in the Article?
A.How gray seals use their vocalizations in the wild
B.Which animals besides seals can communicate with humans
C.How researchers taught the gray seals to sing
D.Why scientists performed their experiment on the seals