I'd like to have seen the source of that. Is it even a reliable source? Cuz I doubt it.
We have a member here named @GBtortoises who had some scientists come out to his place to test this. They set up tests where there was no visual and no other cues to see how his tortoises would respond to his voice alone, as well as other sounds. 100% of his tortoises showed no response to his voice or any other sound, but they did respond to visual cues.
tortoiseforum.org
tortoiseforum.org
tortoiseforum.org
The way I understand, is they have a drum like spot on each side of the head called the cutaneous plates . These areas pick up vibrations. The lower the sound, the more likely it will vibrate the plate.
By definition, That isn't "hearing". That would be feeling. No doubt they can feel vibrations through the ground, but can they "hear" voices which are sound waves transmitted in air? GB's evidence says no, and so does my own experimentation.
No it's not ridiculous! They don't hear the way people think, like calling a dog.
Well that sort of blurs the line, doesn't it?
All turtles here Mark...as too the op concerns, breeding a tortoise is not a bad thing for a tortoise or turtle , not breeding can lead to as many if not more problems ...the unethical part would more so be all the babies produced ... to breed them regularly they'd need reasonably good care ..... hopefully you find her a good home ....
as to your tortoise hearing , they hear , you could take that to the bank ......
Middle Ear Cavity Morphology Is Consistent with an Aquatic Origin for Testudines
Middle ear cavities are also interesting from the perspective of understanding how a major vertebrate group processes sound. Hearing has been documented in multiple species of testudines, demonstrating that these animals have auditory sensitivity, albeit with higher thresholds in air than those of other reptiles [9]. Six testudine species have published in air audiograms (Table 2), with best hearing frequencies below 1000 Hz (around 400–600 Hz). There is much to be learned about how the testudine middle ear responds to sound underwater. Laser vibrometry studies, perhaps from post-mortem samples from a variety of species, could be used to test the hypothesis that both turtle and tortoise ears would respond well to underwater sound. The fossil specimens without isolated middle ear cavities could represent either the ancestral diapsid condition, or a secondary loss. As more extinct species are discovered, answers to this question should become clearer.
I can find you scientific studies from the late 90s that say Global Warming is going to kill us all and destroy the earth by 2020 too. Al Gore said so on TV. Right after he got done inventing the internet.
I live fairly close to O'Hare airport. Planes flying over all the time. I can hear and feel them. No doubt they are feeling the jets and sonic booms.
As we've seen with the recent covid nonsense, "scientific facts" can be easily manipulated to suit ones political agenda. I'm really not interested in reading the material you keep linking when I can see what I see with my own eyes right on front of my face. As has always been the case with tortoise care, some seemingly logical scientific information has not served us well. Andy Highfield in his most uppity voice called "the whole humidity thing" a "red herring" and compared the people who believed such non-sense to those who believe in UFOs and extra-terrestrial life. He had all sorts of scientific citations and weather data graphs and charts to back up his incorrect point of view, along with a very convincing argument. Turns out he was wrong anyway, and admitted as much within a year or two after.give it read or find a shorter paper on hearing in tortoises, there are plenty of others .... if you were to read this paper you would see it is not only about "sonic booms", it describes how tortoises hear ????
"As it is clear that desert tortoises hear relatively well and are responsive to sounds in the environment
what would you imagine the purpose of this organ below is ?????
"
Wow, so the person who said you can heal from the covid. We should try injecting bleach into our veins
My Hermann's Tortoise responds when I whistle and when the cats meow in the same room. Sometimes he won't react when he's asleep, but if he is awake or just lightly napping he will open his eyes and look around toward the source of the sound. He will also sometimes jump and retract completely into his shell if there is a loud sound like snapping fingers or a door being closed loudly (or slammed) elsewhere in the house. There's no way he could be responding to vibrations as we are not in contact with his enclosure when it happens, and the enclosure stand is sitting on a concrete floor and not touching any walls so the doors slamming can't cause vibration in his indoor cage either...
This first hand observation carries much more wight with me than a link to a scientific paper found on the internet. Thanks for adding this to the discussion.
