"Yeah, so it's really interesting. So I think everybody potentially knows of a lion's roar. They've heard it through so much different media. But what you may not know is that lions roar in what's recorded as a roaring bout. They actually start off with a series of soft moans that develop into these roars. (SOUNDBITE OF LION MOANING) GROWCOTT: And then the vocalization subsides with a series of grunts."
"Well, what if I told you that this sound... (SOUNDBITE OF LION ROARING) DETROW: ...Was also a roar? It is actually a new type of roar altogether, one discovered by researchers at the University of Exeter with the help of AI. They say their findings, which were published this month in the journal Ecology And Evolution, could help in lion conservation efforts."
"They actually start off with a series of soft moans that develop into these roars. (SOUNDBITE OF LION MOANING) GROWCOTT: And then the vocalization subsides with a series of grunts. (SOUNDBITE OF LION GRUNTING) GROWCOTT: The specific part of this roar, which is called a full-throated roar, has recently been shown to be an individually unique signature for lions, a bit like human fingerprints, so you can identify lions by this specific type of roar."
Researchers used artificial intelligence to analyze lion vocalizations and discovered a previously unrecognized roar type. Lions vocalize in roaring bouts that begin with soft moans, progress to full-throated roars, and end with grunts. The full-throated roar carries individually unique signatures comparable to human fingerprints, enabling identification of individual lions by sound. An intermediary roar between moans and full-throated roars complicated selection of the identifying roar in recordings. AI classification helped isolate and characterize the new roar type. The finding was published in Ecology And Evolution and offers a potential tool for monitoring and conserving lion populations.
Read at www.npr.org
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