Researchers have found mice have tones similar to singing.

Researchers from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana have found that mice can learn to imitate new tones similar to singing when they are trying to court female mice.

In captivity, the mice would match the tones made by the other male mice, in an effort to compete for female attention.

These tones produced by the mice are ultrasonic and cannot be heard by the human ear.

Erich Jarvis, a neurobiologist at Duke University, and one of the authors in charge of the study told LiveScience: "The mouse brain and behavior for vocal communication is not as primitive and as innate as myself and many other scientists have considered it to be. Mice have more similarities in their vocal communication with humans than other species like our closest relatives."

Meaning that the mice can learn songs by hearing them: a trait that is only found in humans and a few other species, like birds and dolphins.

Jarvis intends to continue his genetic research with mice, and experiment with enhancing their circuitry to improve their mimicking abilities.