Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Animal Communication Methods

Not many people would expect common farm animals to have some traits of animals that are typically associated with having high intelligence. Despite silly survival tactics that become instant hits online, goats also communicate with people through motions. The domestic animal can also complete some basic tasks meant for animals with more intelligence, primates. A test was done with a box with a closed lid with a treat inside. The goat was able to repeatedly retrieve the treat from the box by removing the lid. After a few times, researchers sealed the lid, making the treat irretrievable for the goat. This caused the animal to look onto nearby humans for assistance, such that as a dog would when it is unable to obtain a treat or toy. After waiting periods of months, the animals were still able to do the tests, proving they also have a good memory.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/goats-act-like-puppies_us_577d7022e4b01edea78c6c0d

Other animals also have different ways of communication. Although they do not communicate with humans, bats communicate via ultrasonic songs of courtship and territorial declaration. Some 50 of the around 15,000 known bat species vocalizations have been studied. These bats which communicate via sound have some very similar qualities they share with bird species of the same regions. Greater sac-winged Bat pups babble the calls much like a baby bird or even baby human would babble. Some scientists believe that bats developed this to be able to dominate territory without the need of flying around and marking their homes; the sound carries and saves the bats energy.

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/48598/title/Bats-Sing-Sort-of-Like-Birds/

2 comments:

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  2. Hi Matthew,

    Animal communication seems like a super interesting topic and encapsulates a lot of interesting facts and features.

    Animals communicating with humans is an interesting feat and seems to be a phenomenon that cannot be replicated with every animal but only a certain few. It seems to be more prevalent with animals of a higher intelligence such as dolphins or seals that have been known to interact and even sometimes rescue humans who become stranded. Humans in some ways are just like any other animal and interaction between species has been essential for evolution and survival. It simply may be that he more humans are around and interacting with them over centuries has allowed animals to become accustomed and integrate human interaction into their survival.

    A very famous ape called Koko actually learned sign language to communicate with her zookeepers and care takers and now more than four decades after her first sign she has a vocabulary spanning more than one thousand words (The Gorilla Foundation, 2017). This shows the adaptability of animals and the hope of further exploration, however until this day no other ape has been able to replicate this feat. Do you think that means these animals are anomalies?

    Many animals seems to communicate in a variety of different ways. I remember a zookeeper at Melbourne Zoo informing me that Chameleons can communicate and court through color as well as use it to their ability to camouflage. Many animals seem to communicate courtship and interest through color. Whales have also been known to communicate through song. However just like humans even animals have communication failures such as the now nicknames "loneliest whale in the world" as its songs are at such a high decile that no other whales can hear or understand due to its high frequency of 52 hertz when whales usually communicate between 10-48 hertz. This whale has been tracked through the pacific ocean for decades without ever finding a pod or mate before dying in 2004 (Baranuik, 2015).

    Personally, I think that animal communication is a fascinating subject and should be research more intensely in the coming years.

    Works Cited
    Baranuik, C. (2015, April 15). BBC - Earth - The world's loneliest whale may not be alone after all. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150415-the-loneliest-whale-in-the-world

    The Gorilla Foundation. (2017). Koko. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from https://www.koko.org/koko-0

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