News Animals

These baby greater sac-winged bats babble to learn their mating songs

Like human infants, the young bats sing protosyllables until they master their vocalizations

a greater sac-winged bat pup clings to a tree and vocalizes

Greater sac-winged bat pups, like this one in Costa Rica, learn the rich vocal repertoire of adults by babbling, similar to human infants, a new study suggests.

Michael Stifter

By Jonathan Lambert

- More than 2 years ago

At least 65 million years of evolution separate humans and greater sac-winged bats, but these two mammals share a key feature of learning how to speak: babbling.