Synchrony between individuals or even non-living entities is one of the most striking natural phenomena: from clock pendulums that move in phase to fireflies that flash their light signals together and light up entire trees to crickets, katydids, cicadas and frogs that produce loud, synchronous acoustic choruses. The synchronising calls of species that have been hitherto investigated are however typically simple sound chirps or light flashes that are produced rhythmically at a particular rate. In this paper Vivek Nityananda and Rohini Balakrishnan describe, for the first time, the patterns and possible mechanisms by which complex calls, produced by a katydid, with two different elements at different rates, manage to synchronise.

The article was published and featured in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Link to the article:

https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/224/9/jeb241877/238064/Synch...

Link to the lay summary and interview with first author:

https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/224/9/jeb242657/261833/Compl...