Amazing facts about animal language

We do not tend to think too much about what we think is meaningless meowing, barking or mooing our smaller brothers, but believe me, we underestimate some of the ways animals communicate. Of course, we do not claim that the muskrat can speak Chinese, and the toad can recite Shakespeare in the original, but they still have something to surprise us.

1. Cats meow only for humans



Cats do not use the usual meowing to communicate with each other. They meow exclusively for a person: say hello, attract attention, make it clear that they do not like something, ask to feed, etc. In order to give a sign to a relative, they use body language and hiss. The only exception to this rule is the meowing of a kitten to a mother cat.

2. Meadow dogs are not as simple as they seem



Guess which animal is the smartest on Earth? Dolphins? Primates? No way! Scientists who studied meadow dogs, yes, these seemingly stupid rodents living in the desert, came to the conclusion that they possess one of the most complex (among animals) languages on Earth.

Communicating with each other, meadow dogs are able to describe the predator in great detail, including its appearance, size and shape. Moreover, describing a person, a meadow dog can “tell” what color his clothes are on, and even whether a person is holding a weapon in his hands (at least in one of the experiments).

To convey all this information, they need only one special cry, lasting about 1 second.

3. Beetles use Morse Code



Beetles navigate myriad moves in the tree using a system that is not much different from Morse Code. By making a slight knock on the wall of the tunnel, the beetle creates an echo that other beetles can hear. It was this way of communication that gave them the name: a sharpener beetle. The wood of the house is a frequent habitat for these beetles. In England, to those who heard it at night, it resembled the ominous ticking of a clock.

4. Elephants have unique voices.



It is clear to us that every voice on earth is unique. Animal voices sound the same to our ears.

But biologist Andrea Turkalo has found that elephant voices are very distinct and as unique as human voices. After studying a herd of elephants in the Congo for about 19 years, Turkalo is able to distinguish one elephant from another only by his voice. At the moment, the scientist is working on an elephant dictionary, which, based on the experiment, is likely to have a lot of vowels.

5. Chickens talk to their eggs and eggs respond to them.



There is nothing strange in the fact that the expectant mother is talking to his still born child, but most likely many mothers would be horrified if they heard how their future children respond to them. However, for the hen is a common thing. The day before the hatching of a small chicken, you can clearly hear its squeak. Hearing this squeak, the mother-chicken cackles in response to the baby to calm her excited child.

6. Baboons hate slang



Few people like the appearance of new slang words in the language. As it turned out, baboons also do not like it. Scientists conducted an experiment in which six baboons for six months were shown different words: existing and invented. Baboons had to distinguish the former from the latter.

And to complicate the task, the letters in the words were arranged in such a way that they were very similar to existing ones. For example, "dran", instead of "darn" and "telk", instead of "talk". Surprisingly, primates defined words with astonishing accuracy, up to 75%. So don't worry if you're having trouble sorting out what your little baby said, even the monkey knows it's probably some kind of abracadabra.

7. You may not hear the frogs talking.



Do you still think that only dogs can hear frequencies beyond the human ear? But a species of frog from South East Asia, Huia cavitympanum, can communicate using ultrasound, which is known to be beyond human hearing.

This frog can receive and reproduce sounds at a frequency of 38 kilohertz, which is 18 kilohertz higher than the human hearing threshold. Scientists explain this amazing ability by adapting to the environment: the frog lives in areas of noisy water, where low frequencies differ with difficulty.

8. Dolphins can learn a second language



Agree, the ability to talk in a dream will please few, but the observation of sleeping dolphins, led to the conclusion that it is in a dream they speak another language. Dolphins of the French water park can imitate the songs of whales performing in the same water park. And on whale dolphins talk only in a dream, during wakefulness they speak their own.

9. Parrots don't just copy us.



Some parrots simply copy what they hear, but some of them deliberately learn words and can engage in dialogue. An African gray parrot named Alex became famous for his ability to determine colors, and also understood such abstract concepts as difference and distance. Alex even joked with his owner, “Don’t tell me to shut up!” Prudl is a Guinness World Record parrot who knew 800 words at the time of his death. And En'Keecey, with a 950-word dictionary, just like Alex was joking with his master.

10. Some fish use sign language.



No, they don't slap their fins to show individual signs like people do, although it would be fun. A species of fish called coral groupers move their fins in a special way to “talk” to the rest of the shoal in pursuit of prey.

They set up traps for prey and, when it is caught, the groupers perform a kind of dance signal to indicate the presence of the victim in the trap. The same dance coral grouper dances to "invite" other groupers on the hunt: "Hey guys, let's go hunting this weekend?"



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