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Unique Howls Are What Wolves Use As Names

Posted by samzenpus on from the morning-ralph-morning-sam dept.

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."

4 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Wolf howl identification technology excites expert by auric_dude · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Wolf howl identification technology excites experts http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/23263266 and on a lighter note Wolves Munch Watermelons to Beat the Heat: Photos http://news.discovery.com/animals/endangered-species/wolves-munch-watermelons-photos-130723.htm via http://www.metafilter.com/130297/Wolf-Watermelon-Party

  2. No Shit Sherlock by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Got to admit it always amazes how long it takes the academics to come up with these *astounding* discoveries when the real experts who have lived or live with wolves have known this for years...

    I live with three wolfies - they all howl differently, they all greet me differently, they all have individual personalities, they are all thinking sentient creatures but then I live with them, I dont peer at them through a glass window or a metal mesh....

  3. Bad Science by seyyah · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Dolphin story debunked (twice):
    Dolphin naming?
    Dolphins using personal names, again

    I'm going to assume that the wolf story is as much nonsense.

    1. Re:Bad Science by Retron · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Here's something which I can't explain. Maybe a reader here can shed some light on it?

      Back in 2006 we had three wolf pups at the wolf centre (I became a volunteer after adopting Kenai, mentioned above). They were hand-reared, so were used to people right from the start.

      I decided to do a fun experiment, knowing it'd be the only chance I'd get. Nobody else was this daft!

      * When they were three months of age, I ran away from them in their enclosure. They chased me, but when I zigzagged away from them they gave up.
      * At four months old, I repeated the experiment. This time they followed me even after I zigzagged, before catching up with me (whereupon they licked me profusely).
      * At six months old, I did it for the final time. This time the two female wolves ran away from me and vanished behind some trees. The male wolf came straight towards me, staring at me intently. When he reached me, he wrapped himself around my legs, causing me to wobble a bit. As I was working out how to extricate myself, there was an almighty "whomp" from behind as the two females jumped upon me. That knocked me over and I was licked half to death by the happy pups.

      To this day, I don't know how they communicated their tactics to one another, although clearly they did somehow. Wild wolves do the same thing, of course, as you'll have seen on those nature programmes where they use the pincer movement to get a bison calf away from the herd. FWIW there was no noise from the wolves beforehand, just the rustling of grass as they executed their manoeuvre.