Biologists reconstruct 165 million year old Jurassic insect songs
Nine grasshopper fossils revealed ancient songs. Thorin Jonsson from the Institute of Biology at the University of Graz and colleagues from universities in Lincoln, Bristol, Beijing, and Tempe reconstructed the 165-million-year-old calls of Jurassic insects. The report appeared in PNAS. The insects lived during the Middle Jurassic period in what is now Inner Mongolia. The fossils preserved wing structures well enough that the team could determine the pitch and rhythm of ancient mating calls through analysis, computer simulations, and AI-assisted evaluations. Several species produced pure, low-pitched sounds like modern crickets. Others produced higher frequencies, similar to native leafhoppers.
The findings offer a window into the soundscapes that filled forests during the age of dinosaurs, revealing that it was not only dinosaur roars that made up the animal world's auditory environment.
Source: Jurassic Sounds: Biologist reconstructs insect songs from 165 million years ago (uni-graz.at).
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