New Research Shows That Dolphins Baby Talk To Their Calves
Dolphins are one of the smartest non-human animals, and dolphins have demonstrated social social cooperation within their pods, problem solving and complex communication. On August 15, Science Magazine shared a post that shows dolphin's communication may be more similar to humans then previously thought.
Here's the article Science shared on Facebook.
The article explains that human parents speak in what is known as "motherese" - a series of swooping, high-pitched tones otherwise known as babytalk. Humans use babytalk as a way for babies to bond with their parents or caregivers and to learn the difference between syllables and words.
In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , researchers report that bottlenose dolphin mothers heighten the pitch of their whistles when communicating with their calves. This has been the first time motherese has been found in a nonhuman animal and researchers think it may possibly enhance bonding and learning between a dolphin mama and her calf.
Scientists with Florida’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program studied the bottlenose dolphins signature whistle and found that mother dolphins produced higher frequency whistles when in the presence of their calves than when alone. The article reports, "Dolphin calves acquire these high-pitched calls in their first year of life, though researchers aren’t sure how. Calves also learn the “names” of their mothers, friends, and pod mates and imitate them to get their attention or to call for assistance."
Laela Sayigh, a biologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the study’s lead author, thinks that , "the mothers use motherese to tell their calves to pay attention, and perhaps to better identify whistles directed specifically at them, while enhancing their bond."
You can listen to audio recordings of dolphins using these whistles in the linked article to hear what this sounds like when dolphins are in the presence of their babies and away from them.
The article concludes that discovery should help scientists seeking to understand the evolutionary origins of vocal learning.
Dolphins are truly captivating and amazing creatures. Studies like these reveal that we might share more similarities with them than we initially thought, including the habit of baby talking to the children and pets we all adore.
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