Scientists have found several dialects in the conversations of naked mole rats

Naked mole rats are very  sociable creatures. If you stand near their house and listen, you will hear how

they quietly chirp, squeak, or grunt to each other.

We wanted to find out whether these vocalizations have a social function for animals that live together in a colony with a strict division of labor. 

Gary Levin, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Physiology of Somatics at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine at the Helmholtz Association (MDC).

The authors of the work found that each colonyhas its own dialect. Its development enhances cohesion and a sense of belonging among animals. Outsiders are not welcome in established colonies: this behavior is likely the result of the constant lack of food in the dry plains of the East African rodent environment. 

To analyze the language of naked mole rats,Levin's team recorded about 36,190 calls made by 166 individuals from seven naked mole rat colonies over two years. They then used an algorithm to analyze the acoustic properties of individual vocalizations. This made it possible to collect and compare eight different factors, such as pitch or level of asymmetry in the sound spectrogram. 

As a result, the program found similarities in the types of sounds emitted within one colony. Animals can recognize their own dialect and react selectively to it.

Read more:

Found a new kind of black hole that does not fit into the theory of relativity

Abortion and science: what will happen to the children who will give birth

Scientists have developed a replacement for the theory of relativity. What is the essence of the "theory of everything"?