Articles: Song Of The Singing Mouse

These mice sing their little hearts out—and that’s good for neuroscience

The words “singing mice” might conjure up memories of Cinderelly’s—er, Cinderella’s pals and a squeaky yet exquisitely harmonized Christmas song sung by another trio of rodents. Those musical mice might be fictional, but singing mice actually do exist—though their songs don’t sound anything like Gus Gus’ or Alvin’s. Some mice squeak out tunes to woo females, though they aren’t always audible to human ears. But Scotinomys teguina, more commonly known as Alston’s singing mouse, scurries through Central American cloud forests and breaks into audible song to communicate and find mates. And interestingly, male mice will often engage in fast-paced back-and-forth singing duels, the response speed of which has only been matched by two agitated, arguing Aaron Sorkin characters.