Dolphins Call each other by Name

We know dolphins are very smart. Now new research finds that bottlenose dolphins, call each other with specific names when they become separated. Image © wikipedia

According to Discovery News report, lead author Stephanie King of the University of St. Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit, said:

“Animals produced copies when they were separated from a close associate and this supports our belief that dolphins copy another animal’s signature whistle when they want to reunite with that specific individual.

Interestingly, captive dolphins can learn new signals and refer to objects and it may be that dolphins can use signature whistle copies to label or refer to an individual, which is a skill inherent in human language.

Dolphin whistles can be detected up to 20 km away (12.4 miles) depending on water depth and whistle frequency.”

source Discovery News

via discovery