New research has revealed that The elephant After humans, animals may have been the first to call each other by names.
The research is also important because it sheds more light on the evolution of language across animal species.
The peer-reviewed study, to be published in BioRxiv (bioRxiv), was conducted on African elephants living in Kenya’s savanna ecosystem.
The researchers observed that these elephants addressed each other using individually specific vocalizations.
The scientists were particularly interested in whether one elephant was mimicking its own voice when calling to another, a phenomenon also seen in dolphins and parrots.
They found that this was not possible because the elephants were not imitating the called mate.
Colorado State University and other researchers involved in the study wrote in the study: ‘To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence of calling each other by name without imitating calls in animals of the same species other than humans. does.’
He further wrote that ‘this (research) language may be important for increasing our understanding of the evolution of
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
The scientists recorded 527 low-frequency sounds of elephants in the Greater Samburu Ecosystem in northern Kenya and 98 in Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya.
They identified sounds specific to individual elephants and found that they were different for each.
By analyzing these individual vocalizations, the scientists measured acoustic characteristics specific to these vocalizations and tested them against the data to determine whether it was possible to predict the identity of the elephant calling.
Interestingly, the same elephant was being called by different elephants with similar sounds.
“The sound used for an elephant call can be identified with a structural accuracy that is statistically better than any guess,” the scientists said.
In total, scientists were able to find 114 unique vocalizations and 119 unique elephant calls.
The researchers played recordings of specially addressed sounds to 17 of the elephants to see how they responded.
He said that this (response) confirms the existence of acoustic labels similar to names because the called elephants reached the speaker more quickly in response to test playback than to control playback and responded more quickly. .
This behavior, observed for the first time in elephants, may be beneficial to them as members of the species in close quarters can communicate and coordinate over long distances through chirping.
The researchers believe that naming helps the elephants to attract the attention of a particular elephant and when they are out of sight of each other, it allows them to move to and from the (food) resource. Therefore, their coordination ability increases.
With further studies, scientists hope to better understand what environmental pressures led elephants to adopt this method of using names.
#Elephants #call #names #humans #research
2024-09-30 06:47:24
