Rodents of many species emit short ultrasonic vocalizations during copulation, aggression, and other activities. Thiessen and Kittrell (1979) hypothesized that ultrasound emission by gerbils is the acoustic by-product of physical compression of the thorax during certain locomotor behaviors. I carry this hypothesis further by relating gerbil ultrasound to the biomechanics of respiration during locomotion. I also suggest that at least some of the ultrasonic emissions of other rodent species are, like the gerbil's, by-products of thoracic compression during locomotion. Support for this suggestion comes from descriptions in the literature of ultrasound emission as well as slow-motion analysis of rat copulatory behavior. Finally, this alternative view of rodent ultrasound has consequences for the interpretation of experimental findings in ultrasound research and for the understanding of messages and meanings in rodent communication.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 May 2026.
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#10,953,585
of 32,148,871 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Comparative Psychology
#508
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#19,762
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Outputs of similar age from Journal of Comparative Psychology
#4
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Altmetric has tracked 32,148,871 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 65th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,709 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.7. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 16 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its contemporaries.
