Somebody call my name?
Posted on 05/10/2006 5:01:40 AM PDT by S0122017
Published online: 8 May 2006; | doi:10.1038/news060508-2 Dolphins play name game Underwater whistles give bottlenoses their own moniker. Michael Hopkin
You talking to me? Click here to hear a signature name whistle from a bottlenose dolphin.
© Getty
We are not the only animals to give ourselves names, says research on bottlenose dolphins. The dolphins' distinctive whistles may function as individual calling cards, allowing them to recognize each other and even refer to others by name.
The research reveals that bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) each have their own personalized whistle, which is recognized by other dolphins even from a synthetic version played through a speaker. This suggests that the creatures recognize these as names in their own right, rather than identifying individuals based simply on the sound quality of their voice.
The dolphins have also been heard using each others' names in their 'conversation' — meaning that they may be able to call their comrades during social interactions. The calls may be used to bind groups together in the wild where individuals cannot always see each other, or to coordinate their delicately complex hunting manoeuvres.
Something to talk about
The effect was revealed in bottlenose dolphins living at in Sarasota Bay, Florida. The individual whistles of these dolphins are well known, as they have been involved in capture and recording studies since 1975.
Researchers created artificial versions of specific dolphins' signature calls and played them to other dolphins from the group. Dolphins were more likely to turn towards the speaker if it was playing the call of a close relative, rather than an unrelated dolphin, the team reports in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1.
"The calls mostly seem to be for negotiating social relationships," says Vincent Janik of the University of St Andrews, UK, who led the research. "When travelling they can be very quiet, but when they meet up there is a lot of chattering."
They squeal and growl and make a whole bunch of sounds.
Richard Connor, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
The signature whistles are just a small part of a huge vocabulary of whistles, clicks and other calls, Janik adds. In the wild, name calls seem to make up around 50% of all communication. In a tank, where dolphins can all see each other, they drop out of the repertoire almost entirely, replaced by other whistles with meanings that remain enigmatic.
Dolphins are renowned for their communication skills — although the assumption that they possess fully formed language has never been proved. Nevertheless, they produce a bewildering range of different noises, says dolphin expert Richard Connor of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. "They squeal and growl and make a whole bunch of sounds."
Call me
Many animals, such as songbirds and monkeys, have distinctive calls. But these usually convey a message, such as a warning or a call for a mate, rather than a name. Among such animals, recognition of individuals is usually based on the quality of the voice, rather than the specific call.
Dolphins are different, Janik explains. He suspects that only parrots are capable of similar levels of sophistication.
The dolphin's facility for mimicry might even mean that they can talk about other group members in their absence, Connor suggests. "If they can talk about others behind their backs, that would be really interesting."
Such a discovery would be an immense surprise, Janik says. But he adds that we still know very little about dolphin communication. Some loud calls have been observed in contexts that suggest threats between rivals, or invitations to feast on a food source. For the most part, however, dolphins' whistles, and the constant snick-snick of their clicks, remain a fascinating puzzle.
ping
This isn't news, Don Shula trained his players to do this long LONG time ago. When Shula retired, 100 percent of his players were literate and capable of speaking well.
Contrasted with the Oakland Raiders. LOL
Rather we're not smart enough to figure it out.
I heard about this last week. Amazing! Thanks for posting.
Are any of the names dirty - Hey!! Mother flipper.
Somebody call my name?
;-)
While diving off the coast of Cozumel some years back, we ran into a pod of about 15 to 20 dolphins. Several of them came right up to us - just barely beyond arm's reach - and spewed those clicks and whistles right at us for a minute or so (I later read that these were the "scouts" in the pod).
Anyway it was both terrifying and exciting, I was actually trying to yell at them through my respirator (strange). The diving instructor I was with said he'd never seen dolphins come so close to divers.
The aftereffects of this encounter lasted for days, and were far too odd to describe here.
A couple days later I took a jet ski out to another pod off the beach (about 100-200 yards) and had some fun with two dolphins which swam on either side of the bow, no matter how fast I went. Actually it was clear they were trying to steer me away from the rest of the pod about 25 to 50 yards further out.
That is what I think!
As a biology student I came across interesting facts concerning the brains of dolphins, which surprised me.
1) Their brains are larger then those of humans, even taking brain to body ratio into calculation.
2) Dolphin brains also have way more astrocytes. Astrocytes determine how much energy will be made available for neurons to use, modulate growth of the brain and development of neurons and have roles in associative and abstract thought. Usually more astrocytes means higher intelligence when it comes to animal species, and Einstein for instance had more astrocytes in his parietal lobes, which are involved in a.e. abstract mathematics.
Dogs have more than rats, apes more than dogs, humans more then apes, and dolphins more than humans.
3) Dolphins have a larger and more convoluted cerebrum than humans. More convulations means more surface area and is a sign of a more complex brain.
Everything points to dolphins having an astounding intelligence. If I had to point to what I thought was the most intelligent species on the planet strictly by looking at the brain, my first guess would not have been humans.
If dolphins had hands and legs, they may very well have been the dominant species. And we would be in their zoos performing tricks for bananas.
On land, we call this "closing time."
The family dogs & parrots recognize the school bus and the Chevy S-10 'signature' and get animated & vocal cause they know the kids will be bursting thru the front door any minute. And, if the parrots are separated from one another in the house, they squawk back & forth to one another.
Not unusual because dogs, most birds and dolphins are all social creatures...packs, flocks, pods.
I remember also about a case, where dolphins that where trained to do a trick where separated in a basin from other dolphins that hadn't learned the trick yet.
They where visually separated but could still hear eachother. Now, next day the trainers came back to train the other batch and imagine their surprise when they found out that the other group already knew the trick!
Only explanation is that they must have told eachother about what they had to do. It is not too far out, considering that they 'shout' at eachother what to do when hunting.
I once saw a very coordinated Killer Whale attack (they are technically dolphins not 'whales'), and the intricacy of the whole thing required a high level of communication.
...and yet the darn things STILL seem to get caught in a stupid net by tuna fishermen. So much for higher intellegence...
intellegence=intelligence
When will we be able to edit our OWN posts??!?!?!
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