Summary of a paper in Nature on vocal communications in elephants - including the strong possibility that they have symbolic names for each other

[Montero]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02430-8.epdf?sharing_token=U3O9lj0pvS5CPNma5Oh8vNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MoA92JvwPSEDW1sl9UFn4mH-2a2VPy6yRBO0Cl1c_dItYFsHUCyXO1VgpUVflQABXvkuqm6O2pSkG2DzE-vogXDbK19lD3vpThlI1V6M6rZtAHEUDsaKrBDTTK5feK17HptM1YLrWjChhltCC_3-9xKxVi_VVKtRk5WZHzI5Xa9RLsxt5gn3abEvpdP3epcCA%3D&tracking_referrer=www.theguardian.com

 

[Robert Zwilling]

I believe they are unique names and they are doing more than just saying hello.

 

[Montero]

Oh yes. Not quite fully proven to the full rigors of science, but given all their observed relationships, clear recognition of the individual and planning, I think that is so. BTW Elephant Memories by Cynthia Moss on the decades long study of the family relationships and behaviour of the elephants of Amboseli is both fascinating and readable.

 

[StilLearning]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02430-8.epdf?sharing_token=U3O9lj0pvS5CPNma5Oh8vNRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MoA92JvwPSEDW1sl9UFn4mH-2a2VPy6yRBO0Cl1c_dItYFsHUCyXO1VgpUVflQABXvkuqm6O2pSkG2DzE-vogXDbK19lD3vpThlI1V6M6rZtAHEUDsaKrBDTTK5feK17HptM1YLrWjChhltCC_3-9xKxVi_VVKtRk5WZHzI5Xa9RLsxt5gn3abEvpdP3epcCA%3D&tracking_referrer=www.theguardian.com

It wouldn't surprise me. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if, eventually, we find this in a swathe of other species.

 

[Montero]

Dogs know the names humans give to them. Now, whether dogs have names for other dogs, who knows (yet) but it is another straw in the wind.

 

[Montero]

I'd edit my previous post but too late. I think I'd like to make that "Dogs seem to know the names humans give to them". Not gone looking for research papers that study it in the abstract.

 

[Robert Zwilling]

There are several different ways of transmitting information, FM, AM, Phase, Pulse. I don't think we have a monopoly on those methods. We are however apparently expecting animals to speak plain english using ordinary vocalizations so we can understand what they are saying. And if they don't speak our language, well, then, apparently they can't communicate intelligently. I would suspect most of this reasoning is based on personal preferences. Its entirely possible that the use of language, described as Neuroanthropology is the deciding factor in the pecking order, but I would suspect those 10 fingers and toes have a lot to do with it as well. Here's an interesting article about dogs, no longer seen as ordinary animals by science. “The dog community is one of the biggest communities in cognition research.”