This is scientific American 60 second science.

I'm Christopher in D'Artata.

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Biologists used to think turtles belong to the silent majority of reptiles,

meaning if turtles made sounds, no one was listening.

One reptile guide from the 1950s went so far as to call them, quote, deaf as a post.

But it turns out scientists just weren't listening hard enough because in recent years biologists have identified at least 11 different sounds in the total repertoire.

Recorded both in and out of the water.

But what do they mean?

In the latest attempt to decode turtle talk,

researchers tailed giant South American river turtles,

Podocneimus expanse in in Brazil over a two-year span.

They recorded 220 hours of audio, capturing six of those 11 sounds.

Two of the calls were extremely common, occurring during just about every turtle activity.

Other calls the turtles made only during migration, or while nesting at night.

The findings appear in the journal Herpetologica. The researchers still aren't sure what any of these sounds actually mean or whether turtles can recognize each other by voice alone

All the more reason they say to use these sounds in playback experiments, which might get these

talking turtles out of their shells.

Thanks for the minute.

For Scientific Americans 60 Second Science, I'm Christopher Intagata.