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

Names dogs give themselves

[fullon604]

Reminds me of this far side cartoon -- http://bit.ly/12lglUc

Wolf howl identification technology excites expert

[auric_dude]

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

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

[Anonymous Coward]

Hodor

Re:More a fingerprint then a name

[ArsenneLupin]

...., much like recognising somebodies face.

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

Re:More a fingerprint then a name

[dkleinsc]

Hear that? Its Arooooogaaaaahgrumble!

Oh, must be Richard Nixon's head then!

Re:SO! What's wolfie's name?

[MoreDruid]

Moon Moon!

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.

Re:Here I am! Here I am!

[Retron]

FWIW, wolves do emit different types of howl - a given wolf won't produce the same howl each time.

Although nobody can say for sure what the meaning is, wolves will make different types of howl if they're separated from their pack, if they've completed a kill, if they're about to "rally" with the pack and, interestingly, if a wolf dies.

For general howling, then yes, it's been known about for years that you can identify a given wolf by their howl. My old adopted wolf Kenai (who lived at the same wolf centre as the original research author used for their studies) had a very recognizable two-tone howl.

Bad Science

[seyyah]

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

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

Re:Bad Science

[Retron]

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.

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:What does this have to do with names?

[Immerman]

Right. Or maybe it's like a child singing his mother's lullaby to himself after she's gone. You can *say* anything you want, but you need a strong evidence to make a scientific claim.

A more solid case would be Wolf A using Wolf B's howl to get Wolf B's attention and nobody else's, like dolphins do with their identifying whistles. Dirt simple solid argument, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the technological development discussed in the article. Well, other than the fact that the ability to identify individual wolves from their howl will make it much easier to listen in on their "conversations" and discover things like name usage, *if* it exists.