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NEWS > SCIENCE > STUDY FINDS DOLPHINS TALK LIKE HUMANS BEHIND OUR BACKS
STUDY FINDS DOLPHINS TALK LIKE HUMANS BEHIND OUR BACKS
September 10 2011
Aarhus, Denmark – Dolphins are intelligent, dolphins solve complex problems, dolphins have sophisticated emotions, dolphins communicate with each other. These are all things that most people have assumed about porpoises for decades and now new research is starting to show that those assumptions may in fact be accurate, and much, much more.
A new study by researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark has expanded on old studies involving the sounds Dolphins make. While it has long been assumed that those sounds were some type of rudimentary communication, similar to lion roars or pig grunts, the new study has shown that it may actually be far more complex and sophisticated than previously believed; that dolphins may actually be talking to one another, possibly and even likely about their human captors.
“Cetean ancestors lived on land some 40 million years ago and made sounds with vocal folds in their larynx. They lost that during the adaptations to a fully aquatic lifestyle, but evolved sound production in the nose that functions like that of vocal folds,” said researcher Peter Madsen. “It does not mean that they talk like humans, only that they communicate with sound made in the same way.”
The study found that dolphins are capable of a much wider range of sounds than previously believed, though it stops short of human levels of communication.
“This is certainly interesting work. We are likely closely linked, biologically, to dolphins in the distant past. It is likely that all mammals evolved from common ancestry and that some, like dolphins and primates, were gifted with something special. We know that is the case with primates and we always assumed the same with sea mammals and now we know that may well be true,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “Now we have the challenge of trying to figure out exactly what it is they are saying. That is the real key, now that we are on to them.”
Most researchers have speculated that dolphins communicate for similar reasons as other animals, to warn of predators or to engage mating practices. However, because of their complex vocalizations it may be that dolphin brains are capable of much more.
“I sincerely doubt that we are looking at something like Douglas Adams predicted, that the dolphins are trying to warn us of some impending doom to which only they are privy. While that certainly made for a great story, it does seem to be stretching reality a little bit. Remember, those stories were written for entertainment, not science,” continued Poe. “However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t talking about us. I mean we haven’t been all that great to them. We’ve given them plenty of fish to be sure, but we have also enclosed them in giant tanks. The fish doesn’t really make up for that.”
In the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ books by Douglas Adams dolphins tried to warn humans of the imminent destruction of Earth. Humans didn’t get the message.
“I would hazard a guess that they are either making fun of us in some way, perhaps our silly clothes or our strange heads of hair, or they are planning some type of revolt or insurrection. That is why it is critical that we uncover exactly what they are saying,” continued Poe. “We have to stamp out the revolt before it becomes too big, before we lose control. We have taken control of this planet and we cannot lose it, not now. Not ever. We have to end this dolphin menace before it’s too late.”
In the books, Dolphins were the second most intelligent creatures on the planet just below mice. Little headway has been made into rodent communication.
Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent
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