7 Of The Loudest Mouths In The Animal Kingdom

1. Poison Dart Frogs: 50 Decibels | <p><a class="checked-link" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/494118044/sizes/m/" style="text-decoration: none;">Tambako the Jaguar/Flickr/CC BY 2.0</a></p>
1. Poison Dart Frogs: 50 Decibels | <p><a class="checked-link" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/494118044/sizes/m/" style="text-decoration: none;">Tambako the Jaguar/Flickr/CC BY 2.0</a></p>

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

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(YouTube/ojatro)

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

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(YouTube/nickmcg8840)

The world's loudest bird also sports the three long wattles running down his beak.

4. Bushcricket: 110 Decibels

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(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

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(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

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(YouTube/Senda Verde)

Howler monkeys are the loudest creatures in the Americas, with a boom heard up to three miles away.

7. Blue Whale: 188 Decibels

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(YouTube/fourwinds4444)

Their songs reaching up to 188 decibels, blue whales are the loudest mammals on the planet.