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Death Metal Bands Have Nothing on Bats: Scientists Discover They Growl Like Metal Singers

Death Metal Bands Have Nothing on Bats: Scientists Discover They Growl Like Metal Singers

If you thought death metal singers had the most intense growls, think again. Scientists have discovered that bats can growl just as intensely as metal singers.

A recent study found that bats can growl just like metal singers and throat singers in Siberia and Mongolia. Instead of creating intense music, however, the bats use their growls to communicate with each other and when flying in and out of a place the bat is using for shelter.

“Some seem aggressive, some may be an expression of annoyance, and some may have a very different function. We don’t know yet,” said Lasse Jakobsen, a biologist and bat expert from the University of Southern Denmark and study coauthor, in a statement.

Researchers discovered how the bat uses its larynx to oscilate their voice and make different vocalizations, reaching octaves rarely recreated by humans. The normal vocal range for a bat can reach up to seven octaves. Normal humans tend to have a range of three to four octaves and only a handful — think Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, Prince — can reach four to five octaves. It’s possible they might be using different structures in their larynx, just like bats.

So the next time you hear a death metal singer growling, just remember that bats can do it too. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll see a bat-fronted metal band. 

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