Dolphin: What just got into my head?

Dolphins are very intelligent and highly social animals. Through research on their language, behavior, and brain structure, scientists have discovered that they have a lot in common with humans. In particular, the cerebral cortex of dolphins is very similar to that of humans. Not only is it layered, but each layer controls different functions, such as information processing, advanced cognition, and the senses.

Moreover, the brain formation quotient (EQ, which is the ratio of the actual brain capacity of a species to the predicted brain capacity of other similar species) of dolphins is second only to humans among mammals, which also gives them communication capabilities that are not inferior to humans.

A pair of bottlenose dolphins. Source: science

How do organisms communicate?

Before answering this question, we first need to understand what communication is.

In a broad sense, communication is the transfer of information, and any method that can transfer information can be called "communication." For example, the communication method of modern computers is based on communication protocols, which allow computer servers, GPS satellites, web browsers and other terminals to receive and send data.

In the animal kingdom, the ability to exchange information also relies on similar communication modes, including auditory signals, visual signals, chemical signals, etc. For example, ants use chemical pheromones to share intelligence with other members of the ant colony; bees use complex dances to communicate their location, letting other bees know the direction and distance of nectar-rich flowers.

Image source: deccan

But the way of communication doesn’t have to be as complicated as possible, like a coded telegram. Sometimes it may be simpler to express it directly. For example, a male deer with a pair of huge antlers clearly conveys a message: Don’t mess with me, I’m thick and strong!

Not only animals, plants are also well aware of this. Many kinds of flowers look the same as usual to our naked eyes, but they are a different scene under ultraviolet light. The originally pure color of the petals is concentrated in the center of the petals. This is actually evolved specifically to attract animals that can see ultraviolet light.

Image source: bjron

In general, all life on Earth can communicate with other individuals of the same species and individuals of different species in different ways. This may be a bit complicated to understand, and an inappropriate metaphor is "speaking to people in a human way and speaking to ghosts in a ghost way."

Dolphins imitate

Dolphins have many different forms of communication, the most important and most commonly used of which is sound.

Bottlenose dolphin babies develop their own "signature" whistle a year after birth, which functions similarly to a human name.

Young dolphins can keep in touch with other dolphins through whistles. If they get lost or separated from the group, they can use their own whistles to call their relatives and friends. They can even imitate the "iconic" whistles of their mothers, friends and other companions to get the attention of other dolphins or seek help.

Image source: seaworld.org

Scientists believe that dolphins' super sound imitation ability may come from the "whispers" of their mothers when they were young.

When we were young, our parents often made low or high-pitched sounds to their babies. This sound was called "mother talk", and this way of speaking was considered to be the beginning of baby babbling, which can learn the boundaries between syllables and words.

Image source: headsalon

Dolphins may also use "motherese," a language pattern that is common in human societies and rarely found in non-human species, researchers say in a 34-year study of dolphin whistles.

They found that female bottlenose dolphins vary their "signature" whistles when communicating with their calves, sometimes raising or lowering the pitch of their whistles, very similar to how humans behave when talking to their babies.

As for the purpose of this method of communication, researchers believe that it is not to teach baby dolphins to make "iconic" whistles (because even the dumbest baby dolphins can figure it out on their own at around two years old), but to remind baby dolphins to pay attention to and even imitate the whistles of other dolphins in the group in order to strengthen the connection between them.

Whistles are clearly the basis of vocal communication between dolphins, however, it is worth noting that some dolphins do not produce any whistles and instead use another sound - clicks.

Image source: dolphins world

Unlike a whistle, a click is a short sound produced by rapidly emitting high-frequency beeps at regular intervals, up to 200 times per second, which scientists generally classify as an impulse sound.

When dolphins make rapid pulse sounds, it means they are conveying an emotional state, either excitement or anger. Scientists have found that bottlenose dolphins can also make special pulse sounds similar to "playing", indicating to other dolphins: "I am here to play with you, not to fight with you."

When aggressive conflicts occur between dolphins, the pulse sound becomes very loud. Researchers speculate that this kind of "killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of your own" scene usually occurs in large-scale courtship. Loud pulse sounds occasionally occur between mother and child dolphins. Scientists speculate that the female dolphin is warning the baby dolphin, just like when a child does something bad and is punished by his parents.

In addition, dolphins have many non-vocal (that is, without using air sacs, throat and other vocal organs) sound communications, including slapping the water with their tail fins and pectoral fins, making loud roaring sounds that can travel long distances underwater. This is usually a manifestation of aggression.

But that's not all. For example, flapping the tail fin can be used as a signal to attract the attention of companions in the distance. Some dolphins and whales even use the tail fin as a means of hunting. The powerful flapping can stun many marine creatures.

Dolphin tail swing image source white dolphin

Dolphin: What did you hear? Let me see.

While many creatures, including humans, prefer to communicate using sound, a lot of communication also occurs visually.

Most existing dolphins also transmit information through markings on their body surfaces. For example, the Atlantic spotted dolphin slowly develops spots as it ages, allowing other dolphins to quickly know its age. Some patterns can also be used for camouflage when hunting or as a basis for quickly distinguishing between different species.

Image source: macgillivray

Some types of dolphins, such as the gray dolphin, have many scars on their bodies from fighting with their companions. The more scars there are, the braver the dolphin is and the more experienced a fighter it is.

In addition to colors and patterns, dolphins also produce many movement signals. For example, by putting their bodies into an S shape, this posture is actually an imitation of the aggressive posture of sharks. So in essence, dolphins are imitating a shark preparing to attack in order to scare off the enemy.

Image source: Google

When talking about dolphins, one thing that cannot be ignored is their echolocation. After sending out a pulse sound, dolphins can listen to the information contained in the returning echo and get an image of objects in their environment in their minds. Previously, a dolphin biological research institute abroad collected echo signals with the help of an echo-capturing device and converted them into visual images.

The human appearance that dolphins "hear" Image source: SpeakDolphin.com

Although echolocation is not considered a form of communication, studies have shown that if there are other dolphins near the dolphin that emits the pulse sound, the nearby dolphins may also hear the echo signal and obtain an image of the object in their minds.

If I had to describe it, it feels like: "Hey, I sent you a picture using AirDrop, please accept it."

Ding! You have a picture to share from "Cute Dolphins".

Image source: redbook

References:

1.encephalization quotient

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095750677

2.Cognitive skills in bottlenose dolphin communication

https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(13)00047-8

3.Bottlenose dolphin mothers modify signature whistles in the presence of their own calves

https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2300262120

4.Communicative and other cognitive characteristics of bottlenose dolphins

https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(97)01046-2

5. Bottlenose dolphins can use learned vocal labels to address each other

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1304459110

Author: Fish

Winner of the Silver Award for Outstanding Science Popularization Works of China Science Writers Association

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Editor: Guru