Unique Howls Are What Wolves Use As Names

notscientific writes "Each wolf has a unique howl, which scientists can now decipher through voice recognition (audio), allowing them to identify wolves individually. The scientists developed sound analysis code that can tell which wolf is howling with 100% accuracy. Previously, pitch was used to tell wolves apart, but these only achieved a relatively low accuracy rate. This sound analysis is important because it could well give researchers the first proper way to effectively monitor wolves in the wild. Interestingly, this research comes after the recent finding that dolphins have names for one another. In the case of wolves, their howls are essentially their names."

Comments

So... how do they call each other?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because imitating each others' howls would sound like a very confusing thing to do.

Re:So... how do they call each other?

[Joce640k]

Because imitating each others' howls would sound like a very confusing thing to do.

Um, they don't call each other, they just listen to know who else is in the area.

PS: This is a junk article that's just tagging along on the dolphin story (which is interesting/new). Pretty much all group animals can recognize others by sound (parents/babies need to find each other in crowds).

Re:So... how do they call each other?

[Oligonicella]

Oh, please. Calls are at the top of their communications methodologies. They have self-identifying calls for a reason and it's not over-vocalized introspection.

Your statement would be like saying that although you have a unique # here on ./ and it appears on all your self-identified posts, others really can't read it.

More a fingerprint then a name

[plankrwf]

A name is something OTHERS use to identify you. If I read the summary right (no need to read that article), they are not suggesting that OTHER wolves are imitating a howl to identify another wolf.
Said differently: the howl is like a fingerprint (although an audible one) in that it can be used to identify the owner of said howl.

Re:More a fingerprint then a name

[ArsenneLupin]

...., much like recognising somebodies face.

Or, more to the point, like recognizing somebody's voice...

Misleading headline and a broken link

[wonkey_monkey]

Unique Howls Are What Wolves Use As Names

First of all, strange wording - I'd have gone with "Wolves Use Unique Howls As Names."

More importantly, no-one - except for a commenter on one of the articles - is suggesting that wolves use these as names. You could get 50 people to stand on a hill and shout "I love monkeys!" and still get a computer to tell them apart, but that wouldn't be a name.

Even more bizarre is the headline on the linked article:

Wolves howl like humans, new voice recognition study shows

Er, what? No they don't. They howl like wolves.

The scientists developed sound analysis code

Might want to fix that link.

What does this have to do with names?

[Immerman]

Great, so they've learned to recognize individual wolf voices, what does that have to do with names? A name, like any noun, is an abstract representation of someone(thing) not present. Dolphins each have a distinct whistle that other dolphins use to attract their attention - which seems an awful lot like a name to me. In this case all they've done is figure out which wolf is "talking", and recognizing the voices of important individuals is something we know pretty much every vocal species does - parents and offspring almost always, and often mates and other family members as well.

Oh, and sorry for hijacking your comment.

Re:Names dogs give themselves

[magic maverick]

So what's the bloody point of linking to a short URL "service"? This isn't twitter you fucknut. Just link to the URL directly:
http://sareeahkeelyn.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/cart13.jpg
In fact, that's easier than making a short URL to link to. I think you must be insane.