from the when-asked-how-he-figured-it-out,-the-researcher-was-heard-to-say-"something-just-clicked" dept.
An algorithm has been applied to approximately 52 million dolphin clicks recorded underwater, sorting them into seven distinct types, one of which was identifiable as sounds made by Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus):
A new computer program has an ear for dolphin chatter. The algorithm uncovered six previously unknown types of dolphin echolocation clicks in underwater recordings from the Gulf of Mexico, researchers report online December 7 in PLOS Computational Biology. Identifying which species produce the newly discovered click varieties [open, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005823] [DX] could help scientists better keep tabs on wild dolphin populations and movements.
Dolphin tracking is traditionally done with boats or planes, but that's expensive, says study coauthor Kaitlin Frasier, an oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. A cheaper alternative is to sift through seafloor recordings — which pick up the echolocation clicks that dolphins make to navigate, find food and socialize. By comparing different click types to recordings at the surface — where researchers can see which animals are making the noise — scientists can learn what different species sound like, and use those clicks to map the animals' movements deep underwater.
Related: Dolphins Have a Language That Helps Them Solve Problems Together
Another Study Identifies Complex Social and Cultural Behaviors Seen in Dolphins
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Bottlenose dolphins have been observed chattering while cooperating to solve a tricky puzzle – a feat that suggests they have a type of vocalisation dedicated to cooperating on problem solving.
Holli Eskelinen of Dolphins Plus research institute in Florida and her colleagues at the University of Southern Mississippi presented a group of six captive dolphins with a locked canister filled with food. The canister could only be opened by simultaneously pulling on a rope at either end.
The team conducted 24 canister trials, during which all six dolphins were present. Only two of the dolphins ever managed to crack the puzzle and get to the food.
The successful pair was prolific, though: in 20 of the trials, the same two adult males worked together to open the food canister in a matter of 30 seconds. In the other four trials, one of the dolphins managed to solve the problem on its own, but this was much trickier and took longer to execute.
But the real surprise came from recordings of the vocalisations the dolphins made during the experiment. The team found that when the dolphins worked together to open the canister, they made more vocalisations than they did while opening the canister on their own or when there was either no canister present or no interaction with the canister in the pool.
Hmm. Now all we need are studies that prove mice chittering decodes to discussing the meaning of 42.
Whales and dolphins lead 'human-like lives' thanks to big brains, says study
[In] a new study, researchers compiled a list of the rich behaviours spotted in 90 different species of dolphins, whales and porpoises, and found that the bigger the species' brain, the more complex – indeed, the more "human-like" – their lives are likely to be.
This suggests that the "cultural brain hypothesis" – the theory that suggests our intelligence developed as a way of coping with large and complex social groups – may apply to whales and dolphins, as well as humans.
Writing in the journal, Nature Ecology and Evolution [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0336-y] [DX], the researchers claim that complex social and cultural characteristics, such as hunting together, developing regional dialects and learning from observation, are linked to the expansion of the animals' brains – a process known as encephalisation.
The researchers gathered records of dolphins playing with humpback whales, helping fishermen with their catches, and even producing signature whistles for dolphins that are absent – suggesting the animals may even gossip. Another common behaviour was adult animals raising unrelated young. "There is the saying that 'it takes a village to raise a child' [and that] seems to be true for both whales and humans," said Michael Muthukrishna, an economic psychologist and co-author on the study at the London School of Economics.
Also at Newsweek.
Previously: Inter-species Communication Inches Closer
Dolphins Have a Language That Helps Them Solve Problems Together
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Saturday December 09 2017, @06:14AM
Perhaps this is how we might realize the vision in Arthur C. Clarke's 1963 novel, Dolphin Island [wikipedia.org]
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 09 2017, @05:57PM
So, how do you get an entry in the language/view of the world?
Perhaps setup an experiment where 2 Dolphins have to communicate something specific under the control of the experimenter.