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Koalas have an organ unlike anything else
in the animal kingdom that makes them sound like Barry White.
Oh, yeah.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, friends.
Trace here reporting on the cute koala for DNews.
Nature sort of determines how everyone
sounds based on their size.
Koalas are small, so you'd think they'd make high-pitched
noises, but they don't.
Vocal cords are folds of tissue stretched
across the inside of the larynx.
These folds determine how I sound to you right now.
Generally speaking, smaller animals normally
have smaller folds, and thus make higher-pitched sounds.
It would be weird to see a small dog with a deep bark
because their vocal cords shouldn't allow it.
Koalas break the mold.
And until recently, we didn't know how they were doing it.
Koalas are arboreal, herbivorous marsupials.
They are not tiny bears.
They weigh as much as 20 pounds, which
would make you think that they sound
like that little cute Kristin Chenoweth.
But instead, they sound like Barry White.
Scientists from the University of Sussex in the UK
found that, unlike any other land animal,
koalas have a second set of vocal folds outside the larynx.
National Geographic says that they've
got the vocal depth of something more akin
to an elephant considering their size.
Oh, baby.
These folds are at the point where
the oral and nasal cavities meet called the pharynx.
When the koala inhales and exhales through the pharynx,
it sounds like it's repeatedly snoring
and then belching, which might not sound sexy
to you, but for a lady koala, bow chicka wow wow.
Now, their mates like it.
And in fact, the deeper snorey, burping sounds they can make,
the hotter the ladies think that their speaking is.
The lowest it would seem that they can get
is about 9.8 Hertz, which is lower than we can even hear.
These deep voices might determine
whether the koala can pass on its genes.
There's not a lot of energy in eucalyptus leaves,
so they can't exactly fight it out.
Instead, they sort of koala purr,
attract their mates more passively.
Fun fact.
Koalas are kind of dirty.
Chlamydia, pretty common in their species.
Ew.
Since we're talking about cute, fuzzy animals,
our friends over at the Animalist Network
have a new show that you might want to check out.
It's called Cat Mojo with Jackson Galaxy.
All right, people.
Are you ready for some cat mojo?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
When I started working with cats almost 20 years ago,
it was this very pure place.
But back to koalas.
If you could have a deeper voice, would you want one?
Tell us in the comments below and subscribe to DNews.
And you know what?
Why not share this video too?
It only takes a second.
Thanks for watching, everybody.
See you later.
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