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Elizabeth M. Thomas: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Elizabeth M. Thomas, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Elephants talk to each other in rumbles too low for humans to hear

  In 1984, bioacoustics researcher Katy Payne noticed a throbbing sensation in the air near elephants at a zoo and suspected it was sound below human hearing. Field recordings confir…

  — Katy Payne, William Langbauer, Elizabeth Thomas, Elephant infrasound communication

• Elephants talk in rumbles too low for humans to hear, across miles of savanna

  Much of elephant vocal communication happens below 20 hertz, the lower edge of human hearing, in infrasonic rumbles that can travel several miles through the ground and air. Resear…

  — Katharine B. Payne, William R. Langbauer, Elizabeth M. Thomas, Infrasonic calls of the Asian elephant

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