Turtles and Reptiles 'Talk' More Than We Thought

For a long time, I believed that reptiles were silent creatures that communicated only through gazes, body movements, and scents. But scientists are now discovering that turtles, lizards, and crocodiles “speak” in ways far broader than previously thought, ranging from faint clicks to croaks and roars.

According to the American magazine Smithsonian, researchers have documented vocal communication in the four main lineages of non-avian reptiles: crocodilians, lizards, snakes, and tuatara-like animals.

Along the banks of the Chambal River in northern India, the gharial crocodile emits a loud pop, similar to opening a bottle of sparkling soda, when it encounters an unfamiliar presence—a sound that scientists have only recently begun to notice.

It has also been found that about 30% of lizard families produce sounds: chameleons coo when interacting with one another, while a species of Chilean lizard known as the “crying lizard” can modulate the intensity of its distress calls according to the level of imminent danger.

As for turtle hatchlings, studies have shown that species that lay more than a hundred eggs per nest, such as South American river turtles, produce numerous vocalizations to coordinate their synchronized emergence from underground nests. This contrasts with species that lay fewer than ten eggs, whose hatchlings are less inclined to vocal communication or synchronized emergence.

Researchers believe these findings bring reptiles closer to birds and mammals in terms of the complexity of their vocal communication, after decades of being overshadowed by studies on bird and other animal communication.