How Scientists Are Recreating a Mating Call Last Heard in the Jurassic Period
Preserved in stone, a set of ancient insect wings are “chirping” once again thanks to the work of entomologists
- By Brian Switek
- Smithsonian magazine, January 2013, Subscribe
Every fossil is a time capsule with its own story to tell—or sing. Now paleontologists have listened as never before, recreating an insect song that has not been heard in 165 million years.
Working in northeastern China in a fossil-rich region called the Jiulongshan Formation, Beijing-based paleontologists discovered an exquisite set of insect wings preserved in stone. Microscopic analysis showed they were from a previously unknown species of archaic katydid, a cricket-like creature. Most exciting, the wings had survived the grind of time, so the special structures the presumably male katydid used to sing could still be seen. The researchers named it Archaboilus musicus in tribute to its acoustic talents.
Much like modern katydids, this Jurassic species had two pairs of wings, and even though the fossil insect’s legs were not found, comparisons with closely related katydids hint that it crawled on the ground rather than fly. The male called out to potential mates by rubbing a toothed vein on the edge of one forewing against a sharp-edged scraper under the opposite forewing.
Once the paleontologists and entomologists squared away the anatomy, they turned to Fernando Montealegre-Zapata, an expert on biological sounds at the University of Lincoln in England, who worked to reconstruct the katydid’s song. Studying the shape and size of the wings—including the spacing of the rasplike teeth along the wing edge—and comparing those structures with those of modern katydids, Montealegre-Zapata programmed a computer to produce the most likely sound that the four-inch-long insect could have made. The result, a landmark in paleoacoustics, is the most ancient call ever recreated.
It sounds like a soft metallic ping: not quite like the chirp of a modern katydid, but not an alien sound, either. “It was very emotional hearing the reconstructed sound,” says Montealegre-Zapata. Curiously, A. musicus sang at a relatively low frequency—about 6 kHz—compared with the 10 kHz or greater of most living katydids. That’s a clue to the Jurassic environment of ferns and conifers in which it lived. Among other things, low-frequency sounds carry farther, penetrate underbrush better and are more readily detected amid a din than are high-frequency sounds. “I think if we were able to travel back in time to the Jurassic, we would hear a very noisy environment at night with insect calls perhaps similar to what we hear today but noisier to our ears, as many will be at low frequencies,” Montealegre-Zapata says.
Of course, dangerous eavesdroppers inhabited the same forest. Citing other fossils found in the Jiu- longshan Formation, the researchers point out that reptiles, amphibians, mammals and possibly feathered dinosaurs were known to exist there. Perhaps, then, A. musicus, like today’s katy- dids, remained mostly quiet during the day, calling for mates at night to minimize detection. “In the darkness of the Jurassic forest,” the researchers conclude in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “A. musicus surely experienced the dilemma of singing loud and clear, while simultaneously attempting to avoid nocturnal predators.”
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Comments (35)
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I really wanted to hear the chirp , couldn't figure out how to do so.
Posted by Mike Kauffman on February 9,2013 | 01:30 PM
Why can't I play the audio file on my iPad?
Posted by on February 2,2013 | 04:10 PM
Wheres the sound byte my magazine said would be here?
Posted by heather on January 26,2013 | 10:30 PM
There is no hyperlink to hear the katydid- very disappointing!
Posted by Maureen Shaw on January 24,2013 | 11:38 PM
Brian, it doesn't work on my desktop computer either. When I click the link it just goes to this same page. If it wasn't for Mina I wouldn't have been able to listen to it.
Posted by Anonymous Coward on January 18,2013 | 10:10 PM
The magazine says I could hear the audio online. I don't find it.
Posted by Shsl on January 17,2013 | 02:28 PM
To all who are having issues finding the chirp -- unfortunately the file will not play on a mobile (phone or tablet) device. The audio clip will only play on a desktop or laptop computer. Our apologies! - Brian, Digital Editor for Smithsonian.com
Posted by Brian on January 7,2013 | 10:28 AM
Where is the sound promised in the magazine?
Posted by Martha on January 6,2013 | 09:16 AM
Fascinating article. This is my introduction to Paleoacoustics. @Brian I'm going to miss your Dinosaur Tracking blog.
Posted by Kathy on January 3,2013 | 06:37 PM
http://media.smithsonianmag.com/audio/chirp-FINAL.mp3 because who wants to install quicktime for a chirp....
Posted by pteron on January 3,2013 | 05:33 PM
have quicktime on my pc and still can't hear it. volume is up and everything, just got done watching soursefed about this and wanted to hear it myself.
Posted by Ashleyann on January 3,2013 | 05:07 AM
@Elizabeth http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2012/8210.html The would be the link to the article featuring the sound.
Posted by Kristhian on January 3,2013 | 03:46 AM
Here is a link to the chirping sound if you could not get the site given link to work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WgRUw1cxo8
Posted by Mina on January 2,2013 | 12:35 AM
That was such a cool thing to listen to and to picture myself so long ago listening to it. Then it made my ears ring and brought me back to reality. This is just so awesome that science has come this far.
Posted by on January 2,2013 | 10:45 PM
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