LONDON: Researchers in Scotland say gray seals can copy the sounds of human words and songs including “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
The study by University of St. Andrews researchers showed that three trained seals were able to imitate parts of popular tunes.
Grey seals are capable of singing movie themes and mimicking human language, a new study has suggested.
The marine mammals were also found to be able to copy human speech sounds, including vowels. Lead researcher Amanda Stansbury said she was “amazed” at how well the seals were able to mimic the sounds. She said: “Copies were not perfect but given that these are not typical seal sounds it is pretty impressive.”
The research team’s findings were published Thursday, including video footage of the seals. The study gave the researchers a better understanding of the evolution of vocal learning and human language development.
(Agencies)
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