Study
Purring and similar vocalizations in mammals
Peters, G.
Mammal Review, 2002
Published reports of purring across mammals were assembled and assessed against an explicit acoustic definition: a call produced continuously through both inward and outward breaths, without interruption at the turn.
- Studied in
- Mammalia
- Sample size
- species with reported purring assessed against a definition
True purring on that definition is confined to a subset of cats and a few other mammals. The roaring cats, including the tiger, are not among them: they produce a chuffing or prusten greeting, which is a different call made on the outbreath, and various low rumbles, none of which meet the criterion.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Purring should be defined acoustically rather than impressionistically, and on that definition the large roaring felids do not purr.
How NatureHQ reads it
The value here is the definition, because the disagreement is nearly always about that rather than about the animal. Tigers make a friendly, unmistakably cat-like noise at each other — the chuff — and people who have heard it reasonably object to being told tigers cannot purr. Both statements are true: the chuff is real and it is not a purr, because it stops when the animal breathes in.
- A review of published descriptions of varying quality, not a single standardised recording programme.
- The acoustic definition is defensible but not universally adopted, so other authors count differently.
- Coverage of non-felid mammals is uneven.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Wiley journalsPublished in a Wiley journal.
doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2907.2002.00113.x
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
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