Researchers Eduardo Mercado III and Jessica Zhuo from the University at Buffalo and Harvard University, respectively, have put forth a new hypothesis regarding rodents’ use of ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) to enhance their sense of smell. This theory suggests that rodents may be manipulating matter around them through these ultrasound vibrations, making molecules more detectable to their noses. While evidence on rodent behavior and the effects of ultrasound vibrations have been collected, experiments are still needed to confirm this hypothesis.
The proposed idea is that rodents could be using ultrasound vibrations to manipulate air particles, potentially forming clusters of molecules that would make them more easily detectable by the rodents’ olfactory senses. This could be particularly advantageous in concentrating pheromones, which are crucial for conveying information about social interactions, mating, and territory marking.
Mercado and Zhuo suggest that an ultrasound burst could cause biological aerosols to clump together through a process called agglomeration, leading to higher concentrations of pheromones being deposited in the vomeronasal organ (VNO) of the animals. This unique behavior of manipulating the environment and controlling molecular interactions of particles around them has never been observed in any animal before, according to Mercado.
While USVs have traditionally been thought of as mating calls or indicators of emotional states, this new theory introduces the idea that ultrasound could also be a tool for matter manipulation and smell enhancement in rodents. Mercado compares the potential implications of this discovery to observing “Jedi rats,” emphasizing the groundbreaking nature of this phenomenon and describing it as almost magical in its complexity and novelty.