For a long time, people thought we were the only species to call each other names. And for animals, like fluff for a rabbit. However, some other animals also use names. And recently we learned that the elephant may be one of them.
Elephants may have names
How does Ollie contact her group members from a distance? Maybe by wasting their names. I got there Biologists from Colorado State University, among others (USA, 2023)
Years of collecting elephant sounds left her behind. They analyzed 625 long-range calls made by African elephants from Kenya. The sounds made by animals are so low that people cannot hear them.
Has the elephant growled at the same conversation partner several times over the years? Then those growls were more similar than when the same elephant growled at different conversation partners. Scientists discovered this using a computer model. That’s why they expect those growls to contain an individual label. In other words: noun. So there’s no initial, but grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
It seems that all elephants give the same name to an individual. But research isn’t so sure about that. In addition, this study is still in the pre-print stage and therefore has not yet undergone peer review (it has been examined and approved by critical scientific colleagues). So it remains to be seen whether elephants actually have names.
However, it has not yet been investigated whether elephants use names to gossip about each other.
Dolphins and parrots also use names
We know for sure that other animals use names. But they handle this differently than humans (or elephants). Take dolphins for example. They develop their own whistle tone with which they announce their arrival. It’s as if they keep saying: “Hello, I’m Pete” or: “Nice to meet you, my name is Marie Rola Christelina III.”
Biologists from the University of St Andrews (UK, 2013) Record these flute names and play them again for bottlenose dolphins. Sometimes, animals will also whistle the names of their group members. What happened? Dolphins only responded when their own whistle name was played, not when other whistle names were played. So it seems they really live up to their name.
In the same way Parrots constantly introduce themselves with a unique tune. Who invented these names? Just like with humans, these are parents. They’re not very creative. Baby names often resemble their flute names.
What other traits do we share with animals?
In addition to names, there are many characteristics that we call unique to humans. Are you curious which of these things we share with animals? You can read it in the latest research, Now in store and in the web store. You will also learn whether we can improve people in the near future using Crispr-cas genetic technology (for example, adding a set of wings) and you will delve into the wonderful world of indestructible tardigrades.
