Tornado - ing feces from your rectum might be a pretty controversial room to react to strangers as a human , but forhipposit ’s plainly the go - to . That ’s a takeout from unexampled ( and crucial ) enquiry into the societal wont of hippopotamuses , which expose that these bodacious danger cattle can spot each other ’s call .
Upon recognizing the “ wheeze honk ” of neighboring hippos , they will reply in a chorus of honky honky hippos . However , if they do n’t recognise the call they recognize stranger with a tornado ofpotent poop(as demonstratedhere ) . Quite the statement .
Published in the journalCurrent Biology , the new paper concludes that hippos are capable of recognizing each other ’s voice and will alter their behavior accordingly . Familiar hippos will be on the receiving final stage of a well-disposed honk while the more aggressive droppings - spraying poo - nado reply is reserved for stranger .
“ We found that the vocalizations of a stranger individual induced a stronger behavioural reply than those produced by individuals from either the same or a neighboring group , ” saidNicolas Mathevonof University of Saint - Etienne , France , in astatement .
“ In addition to showing that hippos are capable to key conspecifics based on outspoken signatures , our study highlights that hippo groups are territorial entity that behave less aggressively toward their neighbors than toward strangers . ”
Sound on for a good honk .
To pass their conclusions , the squad behind the inquiry focused on a chemical group of hippos in the Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique where several lakes contain hippos . They recorded call from each hippo chemical group and then played these back to other group to see how the beast would respond .
When hear a familiar call they ’d answer vocally , whereas stranger ’ calls elicited a droppings - spray reply . Beyond be a small sloughy , poo - flinging is a behavior linked to marking territorial dominion among hippos . Quite efficient if you imagine your response to an Airbnb name with visible feces in the preview gibe .
The findings could have implications forhippo managementin findings ways to deoxidise aggression when relocate groups of animals .
“ Before relocating a group of hippos to a young location , one precaution might be to broadcast their voice from a loudspeaker to the groups already present so that they become accustomed to them and their aggression gradually decrease , ” said Mathevon . “ Reciprocity , in which the fauna to be move become accustomed to the voices of their new neighbors before they get in , could also be consider . ”
The squad ’s next steps hope to collapse the hippo honk code to establish what feature help these fauna to recognize who to say " hey " to , and who ’s getting a case full of BM .
