Scientists studying bottle nose dolphins have discovered that the animals refer to each other by name when they want the attention of another member of their pod. Dolphins communicate using a series of clicks and whistles and it is now believed that each member of a pod has a specific set of sounds unique to their own identity.
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Each member of the pod will learn the sounds used to refer to another dolphin. Dolphins have long been considered one of the more intelligent creatures on the planet. Science has long believed they have their own language but did not have empirical proof the animals communicated using names.
National Geographic says, "The idea that dolphins have a name in the form of a whistle has been around since the 1960s...but a new study takes the theory a step further by asserting that a dolphin will respond when it hears the sound of its own signature whistle, repeating that whistle back in a way that seems to say, "Yup, I'm here, did you call my name?"
This new study was published July 22, 2013 in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." A team of marine biologists from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland followed various groups of wild dolphins for over four months. The researchers were collecting data and listening to each individual pod for the same repeating clicks and whistles.
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The marine biologists listened to the recordings and made their own computer generated sounds to test if the dolphins would respond to familiar sounds regardless of the whistle pattern. The scientists played the sounds back for the wild dolphins using under water speakers.
The team discovered that the dolphins would respond to the whistles specific to that individual. Upon hearing the researchers using their sounds to call the dolphins' name, the animal would respond back immediately with whistles and clicks of its own.
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National Geographic suggests that dolphins use their names as more than a way to say "hi." Dolphins form tight bonds and their social structure is important to them. Male dolphins from opposing pods will often engage in competition; being able to call a specific dolphin for backup is a useful tool.
The researchers also studied captive dolphins and noticed they too respond to specific clicks and whistles from their tank mates.
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