Bats speak in accents

BATS have joined dolphins and songbirds on the list of creatures scientists believe to have regional accents.

And, just as British actors who go to Hollywood can pick up a mid-Atlantic twang, the animals pick up and drop their accents depending on the way others “speak” around them.

Research published in journal PLOS Biology found that when 14 pups were reared in three artificial caves and played recordings of bat squeals, they dropped their mother tongue and developed the new dialect.