7 Of The Loudest Mouths In The Animal Kingdom
Poison dart frogs opt for gaudy warnings of their toxicity, rather than the green or mottled skin of other frogs. They're committed to their position as evolutionary standouts: The loud colors, which keep predators away, in turn allow the frogs to have a more boisterous mating call. "These noisy kinds of calls, in general, are what the females really like," states Juan C. Santos, a zoologist and part of a team who recently discovered brighter frogs have the loudest sounds.
2. American Alligator: 90 Decibels
Though these reptiles don't have vocal folds, American alligators can hit a 90-decibel bellow (humans max out at about 70).
3. Three-Wattled Bellbird: 100 Decibels
The world's loudest bird also sports the three long wattles running down his beak.
4. Bushcricket: 110 Decibels
(YouTube/University of Lincoln)
In a 2013 discovery, researchers caught a snippet of the bushcricket's unusually loud song- like that of "a power saw," though much of the noise is out of human hearing range.
5. Lion: 114 Decibels
(YouTube/Natural History Media)
Fatty and square vocal folds allow these big cats to let loose loud cries using less air pressure, compared with the leaner, triangular folds of a human or elk.
6. Howler Monkey: 140 Decibels
Howler monkeys are the loudest creatures in the Americas, with a boom heard up to three miles away.
7. Blue Whale: 188 Decibels
Their songs reaching up to 188 decibels, blue whales are the loudest mammals on the planet.