Scientists observe ANOTHER human-like behavior among elephants
Scientists have observed another human-like behavior among elephants - they call each other by name.
Researchers from Colorado State University (CSU) recorded 470 unique noises from elephants in Kenya, capturing different rumbles and pitches.
Using machine learning, the team found the calls contained a unique tune depending on which elephant they were communicating with.
To test their theory that these noises corresponded with different names, the team played them to the herds - and the elephant being named responded by returning a noise or approaching the speaker.
The findings suggest elephants may be capable of abstract thinking, making them much more socially complex mammals than previously thought.
Elephants communicate with each other by name, according to researchers from Colorado State University
Researchers recorded 470 unique calls from elephants in Kenya that revealed their identity, age, sex and emotional state
Study lead author Dr Michael Pardo, of CSU, said: 'Dolphins and parrots call one another by 'name' by imitating the signature call of the addressee.
'By contrast, our data suggest that elephants do not rely on imitation of the receiver's calls to address one another, which is more similar to the way in which human names work.'
Previous research has found several ways elephants are similar to humans as the animals express compassion, mourn, use tools and raise their young for many years.
And the latest discovery puts elephants as the third creature known to call each other by name.
Researchers recorded 101 individual elephants during their 14-month investigation in the Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park.
They utilized machine learning technology when playing back the elephants' calls to one another, to confirm they were using names to get their attention.
The technology detected the subtle differences in communication and acoustic structure to determine which elephant was being called.
Their calls conveyed a lot of information, including the caller’s identity, age, sex, emotional state and behavioral context.
The team suspected the animals were identifying each other, but to confirm their suspicions, they played back the recordings and confirmed that the elephants responded 'energetically' to the call meant for them.
'Our finding that elephants are not simply mimicking the sound associated with the individual they are calling was the most intriguing,' said Kurt Fristrup, a research scientist in CSU's Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering.
The researchers followed the elephants for 14 months in the Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park where they captured 101 individual elephants calling to each other
'The capacity to utilize arbitrary sonic labels for other individuals suggests that other kinds of labels or descriptors may exist in elephant calls.'
Researchers said elephants are 'expressive animals,' making it easy to read their reactions once familiar with them.
When the team played the elephants recordings of calls that weren't directed to them, the animals did not react, showing they recognized their names, the researchers said.
'They were probably temporarily confused by the playback but eventually just dismissed it as a strange event and went on with their lives,' said Pardo, who now works at Cornell University.
Elephants use trumpeting and low rumbling sounds to communicate including low-frequency sounds that the human ear can't hear
Researchers played back the recordings and confirmed that the elephants responded 'energetically' to calls meant for them
This is not so different from how humans' communication evolved tens of millions of years ago, the researchers said, noting that the need to develop family units and social groups likely drove the development of naming each other with abstract sounds.
Elephants use trumpeting and low rumbling sounds to communicate including low-frequency sounds that the human ear can't hear.
'It's probably a case where we have similar pressures, largely from complex social interactions,' co-author George Wittemyer, a CSU's Warner College of Natural Resources professor and chairman of the scientific board of Save the Elephants, said.
'That's one of the exciting things about this study, it gives us some insight into possible drivers of why we evolved these abilities.'
Scientists said more studies need to be conducted to determine whether elephants name other objects they interact with daily like food, water and locations.