More than one species of the nocturnal, diminutive primates called mouse lemurs may dwell in the same area of the forest and often they look extremely similar, says zoologist Pia Braune of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany. But experiments that played back the calls of grey mouse lemurs and golden brown mouse lemurs reveal that the animals respond more to crooning from their own species than outsiders. Analyses of the animals’ ultrasonic calls revealed differences in the length and composition of each species song. During mating season, the night swells with noise, says Braune. "It's chaos some evenings," she says. "I can’t imagine how this would work without these calls." The work appears online May 6 in BMC Biology. Read part one.

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Found in: Life