- Jul 10, 2004
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Dolphins may be calling each other by name
(CNN) -- Imagine two dolphins swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. You hear a series of clicks, whistles and whines coming from each, much like a conversation in dolphin language.
It might go something like this:
"Hey Flipper, weren't those sardines last night the best?"
"Not bad, Fluke. But I'm more of a squid eater."
We can't be sure they were discussing dinner, but scientists do think dolphins call each other by name.
It seems one dolphin can call another specifically by mimicking the distinct whistle of that other dolphin.
"These whistles actually turned out to be names. They're abstract names, which is unheard of in the animal kingdom beyond people," said Randall Wells, one of the authors of a new study on dolphin behavior, told CNN affiliate WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida.
Wells, of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, worked with scientists from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, the Chicago Zoological Society and the Walt Disney World Resort, on the study of what they call "vocal copying" in dolphins. It was published last month in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
"Each dolphin produces its own unique signature whistle that describes its individual identity," the researchers said in a University of St. Andrews press release. "The new study suggests that in fact dolphins are mimicking those they are close to and want to see again."
Dolphins may be calling each other by name - CNN.com
(CNN) -- Imagine two dolphins swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. You hear a series of clicks, whistles and whines coming from each, much like a conversation in dolphin language.
It might go something like this:
"Hey Flipper, weren't those sardines last night the best?"
"Not bad, Fluke. But I'm more of a squid eater."
We can't be sure they were discussing dinner, but scientists do think dolphins call each other by name.
It seems one dolphin can call another specifically by mimicking the distinct whistle of that other dolphin.
"These whistles actually turned out to be names. They're abstract names, which is unheard of in the animal kingdom beyond people," said Randall Wells, one of the authors of a new study on dolphin behavior, told CNN affiliate WFLA-TV in Tampa, Florida.
Wells, of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, worked with scientists from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, the Chicago Zoological Society and the Walt Disney World Resort, on the study of what they call "vocal copying" in dolphins. It was published last month in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
"Each dolphin produces its own unique signature whistle that describes its individual identity," the researchers said in a University of St. Andrews press release. "The new study suggests that in fact dolphins are mimicking those they are close to and want to see again."
Dolphins may be calling each other by name - CNN.com
