To spice up your next dinner with friends, challenge them to try singing and whistling simultaneously – not with their mouths full, let’s not go that far, but just before sitting down to eat. Suffice it to say, it is mission impossible – that is, unless your dinner guest is a horse.
Our faithful companion engages in this double sound emission nearly every day, whenever it becomes animated, excited or wants to communicate its anxiety. We have all witnessed this feat, at least on screen: It is called neighing.
For a long time, this equine expression remained shrouded in mystery – in fact, two mysteries. How could such a large animal produce such high-pitched sounds, when a general rule holds that the larger the animal, the deeper its vocalizations? And how can such a high-pitched sound carry so far – our own limited ears can hear it from several kilometers away – when, in principle, it is low frequencies that travel the greatest distance? In his study on the subject in 1754, the renowned naturalist Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) offered no answer; neither did his scientific successors.
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