Elephants Have Names for Each Other Like People Do, New Study Showshttps://phys.org/news/2024-06-elephants-people.html
Colorado State University scientists have called elephants by their names, and the elephants called back. Wild African elephants address each other with name-like calls, a rare ability among nonhuman animals, according to a new study published in
Nature Ecology and Evolution.
Researchers from CSU, Save the Elephants and ElephantVoices used machine learning to confirm that elephant calls contained a name-like component identifying the intended recipient, a behavior they suspected based on observation. When the researchers played back recorded calls, elephants responded affirmatively to calls that were addressed to them by calling back or approaching the speaker. Calls meant for other elephants received less of a reaction.
"Dolphins and parrots call one another by 'name' by imitating the signature call of the addressee," said lead author Michael Pardo, who conducted the study as an NSF postdoctoral researcher at CSU and Save the Elephants, a research and conservation organization based in Kenya.
"By contrast, our data suggest that elephants do not rely on imitation of the receiver's calls to address one another, which is more similar to the way in which human names work."
The ability to learn to produce new sounds is uncommon among animals but necessary for identifying individuals by name. Arbitrary communication—where a sound represents an idea but does not imitate it—greatly expands communication capability and is considered a next-level cognitive skill.
Wittemyer said that the use of arbitrary vocal labels indicates that elephants may be capable of abstract thought.Vocalizations—from trumpeting to low rumbling of their vocal cords—span a broad frequency spectrum, including infrasonic sounds below the audible range of the human ear. Elephants can coordinate group movements over long distances using these calls.
Elephant and human evolution diverged tens of millions of years ago, but both species are socially complex and highly communicative. Elephants function within family units, social groups and a larger clan structure similar to the complex social networks humans maintain. Similar needs likely drove development of arbitrary vocal labeling—the naming of other individuals with abstract sounds—in both species, the researchers proposed.
... "The capacity to utilize arbitrary sonic labels for other individuals suggests that other kinds of labels or descriptors may exist in elephant calls."The study also found that elephants, like people, don't always address each other by name in conversation. Calling an individual by name was more common over long distances or when adults were talking to calves.
The scientists said much more data is needed to isolate the names within the calls and determine whether elephants name other things they interact with, like food, water and places.
Michael Pardo et al,
African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls,
Nature Ecology & Evolution (2024)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02420-w
