can Tortoises hear sound?

They have ears, and they are fairly well developed- they just have a tympanic membrane on the outside.

Having said that, the research on their hearing is a bit confusing. In general, they do not show reactions to most sounds, but more and more research suggests that there are specific noises and/or frequencies they do both hear and respond to.

You have to figure that few of their enemies use noise, and they do not use hearing to hunt, find mates, etc.

In fact, turtles and tortoises rarely make noise other than simple 'grunts' when they pull their heads in quickly or something.

They make a few simple noises in combat, mating, and a few other times.

Now, it appears that many turtles and tortoises MAY be making very low frequency noises at various times for various reasons. We discovered that crocs and elephants use ultra-or sub-sonics as a major part of their communications, it is possible that turtles do as well.

If true, then it is likely that the speech and hearing is geared for these frequencies- and we just have not researched them enough yet to know.

LA's comment about the whistle is typical- we know tortoises learn to recognize their feeders, we know they are about as quick to figure things out as a pet rat is (which is pretty good!), and we know that they can hear/feel certain vibrations well.

So- what is triggering LA's tortoises? The sight of their feeder? The vibration of the whistle? The part of the whistle's sound that IS in their hearing/response range? (Remember- whistles are famous for giving off a whole range of frequencies).

This is just not scientific enough yet to use for proof one way or the other.

2007-06-22 05:54:02 · answer #1 · answered by Madkins007 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋

Can Tortoises Hear

2016-11-07 08:26:05 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋

Tortoises do have ears, just not externally obvious. They can be spotted as very small holes a little behind the eyes.
They do hear sound with them, yes.
There aren't any aquatic tortoises. If there were, they would be able to hear even better as water conducts sound.
Hope this helps, Steve.

2007-06-22 05:50:09 · answer #3 · answered by Steve J 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
can Tortoises hear sound?
because they have no ears
and i mean the ones that live on land

2015-08-07 10:05:37 · answer #4 · answered by Anastacia 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋

Yes they can. when I speak to mine even if there sleeping they wake up and look around. not sure if it is very acute hearing but they do. my opinion

They say mostly low frequency and vibrations, but I thik they can hear to some extent

Turtles and tortoises don't have "exterior ears," but they do have interior ears behind their skin. My tort/turtle encyclopedia says they have good hearing.

2007-06-24 10:12:37 · answer #5 · answered by AnimalManiac 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋

Yep, they do have ears but they are flat and not visible to the human eye. My tortoise comes for his food on a blow of a whistle.

2007-06-22 05:48:51 · answer #6 · answered by L A 1 · 3⤊ 1⤋

I tried this program to solve my tinnitus I got much better www.goobypls.com/r/rd.asp?gid=535
Regards

2014-08-23 20:22:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋

mine can hear noises in my room and looks around when i talk etc so yes id say they can hear somethings even if its low frequency.

2007-06-26 04:59:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋

they do like a lizard they are just like tiny holes to the side of their heads xx

2007-06-22 05:48:55 · answer #9 · answered by nendlin 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋

Apparently they can talk as well.

2007-06-22 05:53:59 · answer #10 · answered by D 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋

can Tortoises hear sound?

9 answers