African Elephants Call, Answer to Individual Names
2024-06-16
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1African elephants call each other by and answer to individual names, a new study finds.
2Such communication is rare in the animal world.
3African elephants are among the largest animals that live on land.
4The names are one part of the low sounds, or rumbles, elephants make.
5They can hear these sounds over long distances where they live in the savannah - large grassy areas of land mixed with woodlands.
6Scientists believe that animals with complex social structures may be more likely to use individual names.
7Stuart Pimm of Duke University is an ecologist who was not involved with the study.
8He said, "If you're looking after a large family, you've got to be able to say, 'Hey, Virginia, get over here!'"
9It is extremely rare for animals to call each other by individual names.
10Humans have names, of course, and dogs and cats may react when their names are called.
11Some ocean animals, including the dolphin, invent their own names when they are very young.
12And the birds called parrots may also use names.
13Each of these naming animals also have the ability to learn and say individual new sounds throughout their lives, as does the African elephant, the research shows.
14The study was released in the publication Nature Ecology & Evolution.
15In the study, biologists used machine learning to find the use of names in recordings of savanna elephant sounds.
16The sounds were recorded at Kenya's Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park.
17The researchers followed the elephants as they traveled to observe which one called out and which one appeared to answer.
18By examining only the audio data, the computer model predicted which elephant was being called 28 percent of the time, likely due to the inclusion of its name.
19When fed meaningless data, the model only correctly predicted eight percent of calls.
20Biologist Mickey Pardo of Cornell University wrote the study.
21He said, "Just like humans, elephants use names, but probably don't use names in the majority" of their communications.
22The low rumbles elephants make also may include sounds that are below the range of human hearing.
23The scientists still do not know which sounds make up a name.
24Researchers tested their results by playing recordings to individual elephants.
25The elephants reacted more energetically, moving their ears and lifting their trunks, to recordings that contained their names.
26Sometimes elephants did not react in any way to the sounds of elephant names other than their own.
27Ecologist George Wittemyer of Colorado State University helped write the study.
28He also is a scientific adviser for the nonprofit Save the Elephants, which aims to protect the animal.
29He said, "Elephants are incredibly social, always talking and touching each other - this naming is probably one of the things that underpins their ability to communicate to individuals."
30Wittemyer added, "We just cracked open the door a bit to the elephant mind."
31I'm Gregory Stachel.
1African elephants call each other by and answer to individual names, a new study finds. Such communication is rare in the animal world. 2African elephants are among the largest animals that live on land. 3The names are one part of the low sounds, or rumbles, elephants make. They can hear these sounds over long distances where they live in the savannah - large grassy areas of land mixed with woodlands. 4Scientists believe that animals with complex social structures may be more likely to use individual names. 5Stuart Pimm of Duke University is an ecologist who was not involved with the study. He said, "If you're looking after a large family, you've got to be able to say, 'Hey, Virginia, get over here!'" 6It is extremely rare for animals to call each other by individual names. Humans have names, of course, and dogs and cats may react when their names are called. 7Some ocean animals, including the dolphin, invent their own names when they are very young. And the birds called parrots may also use names. 8Each of these naming animals also have the ability to learn and say individual new sounds throughout their lives, as does the African elephant, the research shows. 9The study was released in the publication Nature Ecology & Evolution. In the study, biologists used machine learning to find the use of names in recordings of savanna elephant sounds. The sounds were recorded at Kenya's Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park. 10The researchers followed the elephants as they traveled to observe which one called out and which one appeared to answer. 11By examining only the audio data, the computer model predicted which elephant was being called 28 percent of the time, likely due to the inclusion of its name. When fed meaningless data, the model only correctly predicted eight percent of calls. 12Biologist Mickey Pardo of Cornell University wrote the study. He said, "Just like humans, elephants use names, but probably don't use names in the majority" of their communications. 13The low rumbles elephants make also may include sounds that are below the range of human hearing. The scientists still do not know which sounds make up a name. 14Researchers tested their results by playing recordings to individual elephants. The elephants reacted more energetically, moving their ears and lifting their trunks, to recordings that contained their names. Sometimes elephants did not react in any way to the sounds of elephant names other than their own. 15Ecologist George Wittemyer of Colorado State University helped write the study. He also is a scientific adviser for the nonprofit Save the Elephants, which aims to protect the animal. 16He said, "Elephants are incredibly social, always talking and touching each other - this naming is probably one of the things that underpins their ability to communicate to individuals." 17Wittemyer added, "We just cracked open the door a bit to the elephant mind." 18I'm Gregory Stachel. 19Christina Larson reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 20______________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22range - n. all of the notes that a particular person can sing or that a particular musical instrument can make 23incredible - adj. extremely good, great, or large 24underpins - v. to strengthen or support (something) from below 25cracked - v. to find an answer or solution to (something)