An infrared camera deployed in Yuansuojia Township, Sanjiangyuan, Qinghai, recorded a picture of a snow leopard. A snow leopard was walking on a bare rock covered with a thin layer of ice and snow. When passing a turn, It suddenly roared a few times, and it was this "magic" sound that made people feel surprised.
In fact, the call of the snow leopard is like that. The reason why people feel very "magic" is mainly due to the deviation between the expected cognition and the fact.
Because the roars of lions, tigers and other big cats are quite shocking, and the roars of many large beasts in film and television works are mostly roars, people have preconceived their subjective impression that the sounds of large predators should be like Like a liger, but it's not right.
Cognitive misunderstanding: all big cats roar
Among the 40 cats in the world, can be called big cats mainly including lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, snow leopards, cougars and cheetahs , the top five The species belong to the leopard subfamily, while the latter two belong to the cat subfamily. Many people also classify clouded leopards as big cats, which is actually inaccurate. The size of the clouded leopard is the smallest in the leopard subfamily. It is a medium-sized cat, not big cats.
Because most big cats can roar like ligers, this gives people a wrong perception, but not all big cats, such as cheetahs, cougars, and snow leopards, can’t roar. It’s worth mentioning that Snow leopards are more special, as will be discussed below.
7 kinds of big cats
Many people use the condition of whether they can growl to distinguish between leopard subfamily and cat subfamily. Obviously it is also inaccurate. Although all cats that can growl belong to leopard subfamily, they cannot be said to be leopard subfamily. The species here can roar, except for the example of the snow leopard, there are also clouded leopards that cannot roar.
In the past, people classified species based on external morphology and other factors, but with the development of molecular biology, this reference factor has become less accurate.
For example, in the past, snow leopards were considered to be "monotyped animals" , but after entering the molecular field, in the revised classification of cats, snow leopards were classified into the genus Panthera. The kinship is recent. Can
snow leopard
roar? At birth, it was destined that
tigers can roar and kittens meow, do you know? What do cats actually call? It has been decided as early as the time of birth. This skill is not acquired after birth. It is only in the process of gradual growth. As the vocal structure gradually matures, the calls of tigers and other animals are slightly different from those of children. It's just the difference.
In order to figure out this difference in cats, scientists have conducted a lot of research and finally uncovered the answer for us. Whether
is roaring or purring like a kitten, mainly depends on the vocal structure, which is precisely the determined by the hyoid bone and vocal cords.
cats
lions, tigers and other roaring animals. The hyoid bone of is not completely ossified, and it is accompanied by a ligament . When air passes through the ligament, it will stretch and produce bigger The greater the stretch, the lower the sound, and finally, under the combined action of other sound structures, a roar is formed.
and many small cats, cheetahs, puma and other species that cannot growl, the hyoid bone of has been completely ossified, and the flexibility and ductility are relatively low , so it cannot make a growl.
Lion
Another species that can roar , its vocal cords are square , and the inner side contains hyaluronic acid and fibrin formed tissue; the side of the lamina propria has more hyaluronic acid, collagen, elastin, Fat-forming tissue. This feature allows big cats to bear less pressure on their lungs when roaring. Compared with the square vocal cords, which are easier to stretch for big cats,
is much more stable than the triangular vocal cords of small cats. is not easy to stretch, so two different sound systems are naturally created.
tiger
growl and purr are like two opposites. Animals that can growl cannot make purrs, and similarly, animals that can make purrs cannot make them.Roar.
But God is fair. Although the grunt sound is not as shocking and domineering as the growl sound, a new study shows that grunt has a healing function. This grunt helps bone healing and promote tissue The function of regeneration can also make people feel peaceful and comfortable inside. So when your "Wang Xingren" grunt next to you next time, you might as well enjoy "sound therapy".
cats
In the whole cat family, the hyoid bone of snow leopards is very special.
After hearing the "magic" cry of snow leopards, someone gave an explanation, saying that the vocal cords of snow leopards lack elastic fibrous tissue and thick walls, so they can't make ligers Roar. This statement of
is actually half true, and the other half is related to its hyoid bone. Snow leopard's hyoid bone is the most special in the whole cat family. Only this one, no other animal resembles it.
The hyoid bone of modern cats is nothing more than one of the above mentioned, but the snow leopard does not belong to any of them. Although the hyoid bone of has shown the characteristics of partial ossification, it is not as fully ossified as other animals. seems to be between incomplete ossification and complete ossification. This special hyoid bone causes Snow leopards can neither growl like a tiger nor purr like a kitten.
Snow Leopard
There was a video circulated on the Internet saying that a snow leopard was roaring in Russia, and a recording was also given, but if you listen carefully, it is the call of the Far Eastern Leopard. Due to the vocal structure, a snow leopard cannot make such a sound for a lifetime.
Among the big cats, the lions and tigers are the most shocking roars, especially the lions, ranking first. The roar can output 114 decibels at a time, and the straight line travel distance of 7-8 kilometers in open areas. You know that 114 decibels is the volume of a jet plane when it takes off, which shows the power of lions roaring.
The snow leopard on the snowy mountain
actually think again, the habitat type of the snow leopard is the plateau snow mountain, which is covered by snow most of the year, and some high altitude areas are frozen all year round. If the snow leopard can roar, it is very easy It induces an avalanche, so this "magic" sound is the most suitable. Sometimes we have to sigh the wonder of nature.
