Mondo Knows Facts
Elephants talk in frequencies we cannot hear
Their low rumbles travel through the ground and through the air for kilometres Airborne calls below 20 hertz carry a long way, and family groups answer at distances of several kilometres. Elephants also pick up seismic vibrations through their feet. Such calls coordinate movement across separate herds. It sits in Mondo's animals collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
An elephant trunk has about 40,000 muscle unitsThat flexibility lets it lift a log or pick up a single seedAn elephant is pregnant for about 22 monthsThat is the longest gestation of any land mammalEach dolphin has its own signature whistleThe whistle works as a name that others copy when they want attentionTreehoppers send vibrations through stemsMothers signal to nymphs by shaking the plant rather than the airHoneybees communicate flower locations through dancingA waggle dance informs hive mates of the direction and distance to nectar.Elephants communicate over miles using low-frequency vibrationsElephants detect seismic infrasound waves through sensitive foot pads.
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Tags: elephants, communication, sound
Elephants talk in frequencies we cannot hear: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Their low rumbles travel through the ground and through the air for kilometres. The figure is taken from Smithsonian, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.