Posted on 01/31/2018 11:49:53 AM PST by nickcarraway
An ability to learn through copying may explain why whales develop unique dialects.
An orca, or killer whale, in France can vocalize several English words, suggesting the species is capable of mimicking human speech.
The 14-year-old female, named Wikie, can say "hello," "one, two," "ah ha," "bye bye," and "Amy."
"You cannot pick a word that is very complicated because then I think you are asking too much -- we wanted things that were short but were also distinctive," Josep Call, a professor in evolutionary origins of mind at the University of St. Andrews, told The Guardian.
Call is the co-author of a paper on Wikie's feat, newly published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Wikie first showcased her knack for mimicry by copying the movements of other orcas, as directed by human hand gestures. Later, Wikie copied orca sounds. Eventually, researchers taught her English words.
The orca doesn't get it right all the time. "Hello" is the only word she can say correctly more than 50 percent of the time, but acoustic analysis proved Wikie is indeed making an effort to say the words she's being taught.
Wikie isn't "talking," and she's not the first species to copy human sounds. Dolphins, elephants and parrots have all shown an ability to copy human vocalizations and words.
"Nevertheless, the study... is still important," Call's colleague Luke Rendell wrote in The Conversation. "Not because it means whales can speak English, but that they are capable of one of the core building blocks of language development in humans: vocal learning, the ability to copy novel sounds."
A number of studies have suggested the unique dialects observed in different pods of orcas and other whales can be explained by their ability to learn through mimicry. Now scientists have proof that their hunch was correct.
By better understanding how social learning develops among other species, researchers may be able to better understand how language evolved among early human groups.
Free Wikie!
But can he say, “Fa loves Pa”?
Hello, my name is Peggy!
This may explain Hillary Clinton’s inhuman stench.
Killer Whales.
KILLER
That’s the critical word.
That big bastard Tillicum was stalking me in British Columbia.
Did it have a French accent?
No sh!t, really?! An orca, making orca sounds - who would have thought it possible.
It’s hard to talk when you don’t have flexible lips......
“Here seal. Here seal. I’ve got some yummy fish for you.”
“Here seal. Here seal. I’ve got some yummy fish for you.”
—
12 g 00 buck yummy fish
Nicely done.
Great.
Now you’re going to get merde (or whatever that name was) back on here complaining that I called seals Sea Lions.
Probably wants me to call Killer Whales “Your Pal Whales”.
Upon this news, Dems in Congress are demanding the whales be given voting rights under the Demanding Action for Cetacean Associates program.
If they had thumbs orcas would take over the world. Wherever they go, something dies.
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