be higher frequency, which travel better in shallow water and air.

Camila Ferrara, an aquatic turtle specialist from the WCS, said: "These distinctive sounds made by turtles give us unique insights into their behaviour, although we don't know what the sounds mean. The social behaviours of these reptiles are much more complex than previously thought."

Researchers recorded 270 individual sounds, making 220 hours of recordings over three years. They divided them into six different types of vocalisation.

The highest diversity was among females about to nest, suggesting these sounds are used to decide on a specific nesting site to synchronise movements – turtles leave the water in a single file procession.

Giant South American river turtles are the largest of the side-necked turtle family, growing up to 80cm in length. They arehere is some text to align with an image
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