Miniaturisation of the equipment, in particular, makes it more and more possible to observe undisturbed animal behaviour in detail for multiple individuals 4. Since most ecologists cannot, unfortunately, turn themselves into micro-electrotechnicians, it appears most interesting to monitor the continuous development of cutting-edge devices in areas distant from our field of expertise, as sometimes an inventive but simple deviation of an apparatus from its primary purpose (see for instance the ingenious use of “burrowscopes” 3) can make a significant difference for an entire field of research. In the past few years, for instance, the development and successful use of new bioacoustic technologies based on microphone arrays have allowed researchers to record the sounds produced by wildlife and relate this to their ecology and habitat 1, 2. New research questions become increasingly accessible through technological breakthroughs, particularly for the study of animal vocal communication. The recordings also allowed us to monitor individual activity patterns and record incredibly long resting heart rates and to identify self-scratching events and even whining from pre-emerging pups in their maternal burrow. The high-quality 24 h acoustic recording logged on the spy microphone device allowed us to very efficiently collect daylong chipmunk vocalisations, giving us much more detailed data than the classical use of a directional microphone over an entire field season. We show here how this can be accomplished using an operational tiny audio recorder that can easily be fitted as an on-board acoustic data-logger on small free-ranging animals. Our comprehension of the acoustic signals emitted by animals would be greatly improved if we could continuously track the daily natural emissions of individuals in the wild, especially in the context of integrating individual variation into evolutionary ecology research questions. The study of animal vocal communication, in particular, can gain new insights and knowledge from technological improvements in recording equipment. Technological advances can greatly benefit the scientific community by making new areas of research accessible.
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