Pigtail rats also echo localize

On June 18, researchers published a study in the international academic journal Science, confirming that species of the genus Pigtail have echolocation capabilities.

The Shi Peng research group, Jiang Xuelong research group and Liu Zhen research group of the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly tackled the problem, and the researchers recorded that the pig tail rat regularly emits short-time, frequency-modulated, and high-frequency sound waves (peak frequency ~ 98kHz) in motion. The study also found that in dark environments, pigtail rats emit higher ultrasonic speeds in complex spatial environments and when avoiding obstacles. The above results suggest that the pigtail mouse ultrasound plays a directional role in the movement behavior - echo localization.

Subsequently, the researchers found through behavioral task experiments that pigtail mice spent more time and emitted higher ultrasound rates to explore targets, and they accurately detected the escape platform in complete darkness conditions and successfully obtained food rewards; when their ears were blocked, pigtail rats could not receive echoes and could no longer detect targets and complete tasks; after removing earplugs, pigtail mice regained the ability to explore and locate targets. Under the conditions of eliminating sight, touch, and controlled smell, behavioral experiments have confirmed that the genus achieves the localization goal of echo localization by emitting ultrasonic waves and receiving echoes by hearing.

The researchers assembled the high-quality whole genome of the Chinese pigtail rat from the beginning sequencing, and through evolutionary genomics analysis, it was found that the echo localization of the pigtail rat was of independent origin.

This study extends the animal echo localization behavior to rodents, refreshing people's understanding of the multi-point and independent origin of mammalian echo localization traits, which also suggests that the convergence evolution of echolocation traits in mammals is greatly underestimated.

The genus belongs to the rodent family , a small arboreal mammal known as the " blind rat " because of its small eyes. Phylogenetic and taxonomic studies have found that the genus contains at least five species: Chinese pigtail rat, Sabah pigtail rat, Daloushan pigtail rat, piglet tail rat, and Huangshan pigtail rat.

Reporter yang gaowen

Courtesy of Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Source: Spring City Evening News