Dolphins greet each other by name

It looks like dolphins have names for each other and when first meeting other dolphins will introduce themselves and ask them to come play.

When meeting strangers in the wild, dolphins whistle signature tunes that may be the animal equivalent of "Hello, my name is…" stickers.

These introductions include other information as well:

'I'm so-and-so, and I'm interested in making contact in a friendly way, I'm not attacking,'" said study researcher Vincent Janik, an expert in animal communication at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Janik calls these names "signature whistles" and he claims only humans and dolphins have personal "names" used to identify each other.

Non-human social primates do have identification calls however, so that other primates know who is calling. Janik says this is not the same as having names:

Social primates know each other from the sounds of their voices, but they don't create signature identification calls. Dolphins, on the other hand, start developing their own whistles at just a few months of age.

Regardless, this does raise the bar on the self-awareness and intelligence of dolphins.

www.livescience.com...

Holy crap.
If this is true it certainly raises some issues.
If Dolphins are aware enough to know their own names and can tell other dolphins as well then it's another clue to their level of intelligence.
And how do we deal with them now?

Originally posted by grey580
Holy crap.
If this is true it certainly raises some issues.
If Dolphins are aware enough to know their own names and can tell other dolphins as well then it's another clue to their level of intelligence.
And how do we deal with them now?

If you read genesis in its original Hebrew it quite clearly states that some animals have souls just like man , I think many animals communicate on a level just like us but we clearly can not understand . It is mans arrogance that leads him to believe he is superior and only species capable of verbal communication .

reply to post by Azadok


Very interesting.
What are the other animals?

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel

I wonder if it's true that social primates do not have names? I googled and found nothing.

What about Koko? The trained gorilla? Did she ever name herself or name anything else?

I would think that names would be useless just to identify something since its voice and behavior can identify it. Names would be more useful if you were trying to identify someone to another group or to tell them that so-and-so needs something. Or if you're reflecting on the past about someone.

Is it possible that the researchers are wrong and that dolphins are unable to identify each other without a unique signal? Another words, the sound of the 'voice' or appearance of the other dolphin is not enough to identify. It would be like if humans could not identify someone based on how they look or how they sound.

Originally posted by grey580
reply to post by Azadok

 

Very interesting.
What are the other animals?

I bet dogs would be one of them.

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel


I don't think their is any way we know what a dolphins noise means. I think they are guessing. Unless Dr Doolittle himself says it I'm gonna call bs.. Dont mean to burst any bubbles just my opinion.

I read that dolphins and some whales do that. Did you ever hear the strange sounds dolphins make? sort of a sound like EH EH EH EH EH or something like that real fast. I think they are calling us Gringos in their language. I know what gringo really means.

reply to post by jonnywhite

I wonder if it's true that social primates do not have names? I googled and found nothing.

I did some searching also and social primates can identify each other by the distinct hoots they make. But Janik does not think this is the same as having names.

With regards to Koko, this could be just behavioral training. Just like your dog or cat comes when you call their names. Whether or not Koko knows it's her name in the same way we do, I don't know.

Originally posted by dayve
reply to post by Nicolas Flamel

 

I don't think their is any way we know what a dolphins noise means. I think they are guessing. Unless Dr Doolittle himself says it I'm gonna call bs.. Dont mean to burst any bubbles just my opinion.

You might be interested in another recent thread about dolphin language. Specifically in their ability to use sono-pictorial language. Something even we can't do.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by grey580

And how do we deal with them now?

Awareness is growing. "The Cove" documentary had a huge impact (don't watch this if your squeamish).

Organizations like the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society should be given more support.

The International Whaling Commission should enforce already existing laws so countries don't hunt whales and dolphins in large numbers for "research purposes". Ultimately this also involves a cultural change in countries like Japan, Norway and Iceland. But progress is slowly being made.

Think about it guys. Fish is brain food, an old saying that is now a proven fact. If this is true, anything with Finns is smarter than without Finns. That's why my wife married me, I'm Finn, so she's smart.

reply to post by jonnywhite


when I was in school we watched a show about koko. I remember she had a pet cat and she named it, can't remember what.

Originally posted by wingsfan
reply to post by jonnywhite

 

when I was in school we watched a show about koko. I remember she had a pet cat and she named it, can't remember what.

Koko is amazing. She learned about 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language. There are also examples of chimpanzees solving problems that indicated a certain level of intelligence.

She called her tail-less cat "All Ball".

However:

Other researchers argue that she does not understand the meaning behind what she is doing and learns to complete the signs simply because the researchers reward her for doing so (indicating that her actions are the product of operant conditioning)

en.wikipedia.org...

Chimp problem solving, one example: www.youtube.com...

My belief is that intelligence isn't on or off, but a spectrum, from not intelligent to very intelligent. Where do dolphins fit on this scale?

reply to post by Nicolas Flamel


Dolphins got to be more intelligent than humans. Not one of them ever built a bomb.

Originally posted by grey580
Holy crap.
If this is true it certainly raises some issues.
If Dolphins are aware enough to know their own names and can tell other dolphins as well then it's another clue to their level of intelligence.
And how do we deal with them now?

Well I guess we could just leave them alone. You know, instead of poking our noses into other species business just let them live and die the dolphin way. Or we could just eat them, I heard they taste good. The universe doesn't care either way.

Soon we have chimps on the battlefield

reply to post by TribeOfManyColours


..This has to be fake , right .. ? I mean ok I could believe he learned how to press buttons and use the analog stick to move rudimentary inside a simulation , but on the monitor it clearly shows somebody who is playing the game knows exactly what is going on on the monitor . I mean shooting explosive barrels to kill a guy next to it, changing weapons and reloading ? .

Edit: Meh viral add for a movie Nevermind

If dolphins ever get smart enough to really know the truth about humans we will have to hunt them all down and kill them...

Stay dumb Flipper !!

I watched a show many years ago studying bird chatter.
Apparently the birds studied communicate 10 times faster than we do.
Not only that but the same species had different dialects depending on their location as do we.
Can not recall what species it was however