28 JANUARY 2021 We are utterly delighted to welcome the shrivelled skin sacks known as naked mole rats into the elite ranks of animals with confirmed vocal dialects. Their chirps differ based on where they're from - just like we talk with different accents.
"This is an astonishing feat for a rodent and is in stark contrast to the majority of mammalian vocalisations, which are innate, immutable, and genetically inherited," wrote Rochelle Buffenstein for Science Magazine. Other members of this highly skilled group of vocalists include cetaceans, bats, songbirds and, of course, primates. Heterocephalus glaber) dialect acquisition is somewhat different, given their strangely insect-like social structure. Their accent is coordinated by their colony's queen.