Podcast Summary
Reconstructing Ancient Sounds: A Journey into the Past: Mercury's financial solutions and Apple Card's cashback program emphasize simplicity and precision for business success. In contrast, the mystery of dinosaur sounds remains unsolved due to limited fossil evidence, with Jurassic Park's iconic roars being only an approximation.
Simplicity and precision are key to business success, as demonstrated by Mercury's financial solutions and Apple Card's cashback program. Meanwhile, in the world of entertainment, we explored the fascinating question of how we can even begin to guess what dinosaurs sounded like, given the limited evidence available. With only one dinosaur fossil for every 10000 years of their existence on Earth, and new species still being discovered today, the mystery of dinosaur sounds is truly a wild one. The Jurassic Park movies famously used a combination of animal sounds to create their iconic dinosaur roars, but the accuracy of these representations is still up for debate. Join us on this journey as we delve deeper into the science and art of reconstructing ancient sounds, and maybe uncover some surprising answers about what dinosaurs might have really sounded like.
Reconstructing dinosaur sounds is a complex task: Despite some successes, we can't truly know the sounds of extinct dinosaurs. We can only make educated guesses based on their physical structures.
While it's an intriguing question, reconstructing ancient dinosaur sounds is an extremely challenging task due to the soft tissue nature of sound-producing structures. However, there have been some successful examples of reconstructing ancient sounds from fossilized body parts, such as the wings of a 165-million-year-old cricket relative. For dinosaurs, scientists have made educated guesses based on physical structures like the hollow tubes on the Parasaurolophus skull, which might have been used to shape sounds. These findings provide some clues, but they don't give us the actual voices of dinosaurs. Instead, they offer insights into the potential sound ranges and frequencies that these ancient creatures might have produced.
Inaccuracies in Jurassic Park's dinosaur sounds: Despite scientific knowledge, filmmakers took creative liberties with dinosaur sounds in Jurassic Park, resulting in some inaccuracies. Long-necked dinosaurs likely hissed instead of trumpeting.
The sounds of dinosaurs in the 1993 film "Jurassic Park" were not entirely accurate based on scientific knowledge at the time. For instance, the Brachiosaurus was portrayed trumpeting like an elephant, but in reality, long-necked dinosaurs were likely to hiss due to the length of their necks and the time it takes for nerve signals to travel. This theory was suggested by Michael Crichton's PhD supervisor, David Weisampel, but the filmmakers did not adopt it for the Brachiosaurus sound. The parasaurolophus calls, on the other hand, were more accurately represented. This discussion highlights the creative challenges of bringing extinct creatures to life through sound in film, and the importance of scientific consultation in achieving a more authentic representation.
Unraveling the Mystery of Dinosaur Sounds: Scientists and sound designers explore new ways to recreate dinosaur sounds by studying related animals and aim for scientific accuracy, while advancements like Apple Card rewards and female marathon events highlight modern advancements and support.
While we can make educated guesses about ancient sounds based on fossilized structures, the core voice or sound of a dinosaur remains a mystery. Scientists and sound designers are exploring new ways to recreate dinosaur sounds, such as studying the sounds of animals that are related to dinosaurs, like crocodilians. This approach, which is being used in shows like "Prehistoric Planet," aims to be more scientifically accurate and avoid the anthropomorphized roars often seen in popular media. Ultimately, the quest to understand dinosaur sounds continues, and new discoveries and technologies may bring us closer to unlocking the secrets of the past. Meanwhile, in other news, Apple Card offers cash back rewards on various purchases, and team Milk supports and empowers female marathon runners. The 2024 Every Woman's Marathon in Savannah, Georgia, is an upcoming event designed specifically for women. Dairy milk, with its high quality protein and natural electrolytes, is an excellent choice for marathon training and recovery.
Dinosaur sounds might have been more like crocodile rumbling: Dinosaur roars in movies might not accurately represent their true sounds, which could have been more like low, rumbling crocodile calls due to their large size and shared ancestry with birds.
The sounds made by dinosaurs, such as the T-Rex, might have been more similar to the rumbling sounds made by modern-day crocodiles and alligators than the roars often portrayed in movies. This is because larger creatures tend to produce lower-pitched sounds that travel farther, and these sounds can become infrasound, which is below the range of human hearing. Additionally, dinosaurs and crocodiles share a common ancestry, with dinosaurs being the direct ancestors of birds. This means that the structures responsible for making sounds in birds, like the syrinx, have evolved from the same structures in dinosaurs. So, the next time you watch a dinosaur roar in a movie, remember that it might have sounded more like a low, rumbling crocodile call.
The Link Between Birds and Dinosaurs: The Syrinx: Birds' unique vocal organ, the syrinx, may have originated in dinosaurs, allowing them to produce complex sounds and vocalizations.
Birds are not just distant relatives of dinosaurs, but they are directly linked as dinosaurs had the same vocal organ, the syrinx, which is unique to birds. However, we don't have concrete evidence of when syringes first appeared in the evolutionary history of animals. Birds' ability to produce multiple dominant pitches at the same time using their two independent sides of the syrinx makes them exceptionally loud and capable of complex vocalizations. A fossil discovery of an ancient duck from about 67 million years ago, found in Antarctica, revealed a faint imprint of a syrinx, suggesting that dinosaurs might have had this vocal organ as well. Despite this discovery, the exact timeline of when syringes evolved is still unknown.
Could Dinosaurs Make Complex Sounds?: Newly discovered artifact hints at dinosaurs having the ability to make complex sounds in the form of bird-like calls, low-pitched honks, war rumbles, and even proto-bird songs.
The discovery of an ancient artifact could potentially rewrite history by suggesting that dinosaurs might have had the ability to make complex sounds similar to birds. This theory is based on the findings of a seemingly intact artifact, which is much older than previously believed, and the possibility that sounds heard on prehistoric planet could be bird-like. Johnny, the sound designer, shared an example of a scene where he used slowed and pitched down bird sounds to create the roar of fighting pterosaurs. Julia, the archaeologist, has not yet found definitive evidence of dinosaur syringes but suggests that if they did exist, dinosaurs could have made a variety of sounds, including low-pitched honks, war rumbles, and even proto-bird songs. Michael, the paleontologist, agrees and adds that the bigger the dinosaur, the weirder its sounds could have been. These possibilities could overlap, with dinosaurs making open-mouth sounds, closed-mouth growls, and even combining both. This theory could have significant implications for our understanding of dinosaur behavior and communication, and potentially even improve the depiction of dinosaur sounds in popular media like Jurassic Park. However, more evidence is needed to confirm this theory.
Bringing Dinosaur Sounds to Life: Sound designers collaborate with scientists to create dinosaur sounds using imagination and available knowledge, resulting in a beautiful representation of the ancient Jurassic world.
The creation of dinosaur sounds for documentaries and media is a collaborative process between scientists and artists. While we may not have definitive answers about what dinosaurs sounded like, the lack of knowledge excites sound designers who can use their imagination and available knowledge to build upon. For instance, Christian, the sound designer, used sounds from various animals like chickens, sandpipers, tubas, and even an emu to create the T-Rex's roar. The process involves experimentation, creativity, and a willingness to explore the unknown. This partnership between science and art is essential in helping us recreate a lost world, even if our creations are speculative. The end result is a beautiful representation of the ancient Jurassic world, filled with various dinosaur sounds and textures, making us feel like we're part of an alien and ancient world.
Misconceptions about Dinosaurs in Popular Media: Popular media often inaccurately portrays dinosaurs, emphasizing the importance of fact-checking and the evolving nature of scientific knowledge. New discoveries continue to change our understanding of these prehistoric creatures.
Popular media, including films like "The Land Before Time" and "Jurassic Park," have often inaccurately portrayed dinosaurs based on our current scientific understanding. For instance, Ducky from "The Land Before Time" is labeled as a Parasaurolophus on the official website, but some believe she might be a Saurolophus based on her jawline and skull crest. Similarly, velociraptors in "Jurassic Park" are depicted as large, scaly pack hunters, but scientists now know they had feathers and likely hunted solo. These misconceptions highlight the importance of fact-checking and the evolving nature of scientific knowledge. It's essential to remember that our understanding of dinosaurs continues to change as new discoveries are made. Additionally, the team behind the "Unexplainable" podcast includes Catherine Wells, Brian Resnick, Meredith Haudenot, Christian Ayala, Bert Pinkerton, and Manning Nguyen. The podcast is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network and covers various unexplained phenomena. If you have any episode ideas or thoughts, feel free to email them at unexplainable@vox.com. The team reads every email. Stay tuned for the next episode.
