Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Dolphin By Any Other Name

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the what's-in-a-name dept.

SloppyElvis writes "CNN is reporting that scientists have proven that Dolphins can communicate with each other by name. From the article: 'researchers synthesized signature whistles with the caller's voice features removed and played them to dolphins through an underwater speaker' to which the mammals responded. This form of identification in language was previously only known to exist in the human world." Thankfully they still haven't evolved opposable thumbs.

4 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. Ever heard of parrots ? by Jesrad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This form of identification in language was previously only known to exist in the human world ... except for the hundreds of thousands of parrot owners througout the world. My african greys call each other by name when asking for anything.

    --
    Maybe we deserve this world ?
    1. Re:Ever heard of parrots ? by frankie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You're talking about pets. Learning to use names after repeated exposure to human conversation doesn't count. Do these parrots have personal names and speak them IN THE WILD?

    2. Re:Ever heard of parrots ? by syukton · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How do humans learn to use names other than after repeated exposure to human conversation?

      Further, if you isolated a group of humans from other humans ("in the wild") do you think they would come up with names for one another?

      What I'm saying here is that I think a human separated from its herd/pack/society will be just as uninclined to name things as a bird would be. When integrated into society however, whether human or bird, the ability to learn enables higher-level functions like naming, understanding, counting, storytelling, and so on. That's probably the most amazing thing of all, that a bird can become "socialized" the same way a child can.

      What does it matter if they do or don't have names that they speak in the wild? What if they don't? Wouldn't that make this all the more interesting?

      --
      Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
  2. Re:I wonder... by plunge · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Saying dolphins have names implies they are self aware. If this is true, then much of our biological science is in error."

    Hunh? What biological science supports the position that dolphins are not self-aware? They seem to be as self-aware as apes, and are certainly much more self-aware than even human infants.

    "Nevertheless, the equation that dolphins make noise + response to that noise = names, then any animal that makes a noise to communicate to other like animals probably is using names."

    No, you missed the point. The point is that the noises are NOT the same. They can be reproduced back in all sorts of different tones and inflections that makes them different "noises," but there is a core structure of sorts, that apparently defines the meaning apart from the noise. That's not proof of any sort complex grammatical structure, sure, but it's far more like language than cats, dogs, parrots, and so forth, which respond to and repeat noises, without any particular regard to some subtle, abstract structure.

    Furthermore, I'm not sure I know of any other social animal that acts like this: individuals called specifically as individuals by other members of the same species in the wild. That's pretty amazing.