![Elephants call each other by name, study finds](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/07/76/6c/Elephants-call-each-other-by-name---213708.jpg)
-
Messi a doubt for Argentina ahead of Copa quarter-final
-
British tennis ace Raducanu votes for 'lie-in' on election day
-
France film director Jacquot charged with raping two actors
-
Israel 'evaluating' new Hamas 'ideas' on halting Gaza war
-
Venezuela, US agree to 'improve relations,' says Caracas
-
Under-fire Kenya govt says to review state salary hikes
-
Thousands told to flee raging California wildfire
-
Osaka focuses on Olympics after Wimbledon KO
-
Tens of thousands flee south Gaza as tensions soar
-
US Fed officials stressed 'patience' on rate cuts: minutes
-
Blond not bombs as Fognini learns to love Wimbledon
-
New lithium plant inaugurated in Argentina
-
Threads hits 175 mn users on first anniversary
-
French court says Netflix shark hit can keep streaming in copycat row
-
Comeback king 'Cav' to carry on doing the thing he loves
-
Alcaraz marches on at Wimbledon as Osaka returns to Centre Court
-
Biden under pressure as Democratic panic rises
-
Belarus frees 'some political prisoners': exiled opposition leader
-
Alcaraz coasts into Wimbledon third round
-
Cavendish makes Tour de France history with 35th stage win
-
Everton sign forward Ndiaye from Marseille
-
Bailed Indian opposition leader to return as chief minister
-
World's oldest artwork discovered in Indonesian cave
-
Toney urges England to kick on after Euros reprieve
-
Murray teams up with Raducanu in Wimbledon mixed doubles
-
Former England rugby coach Jack Rowell dies aged 87
-
Hurricane Beryl bears down on Jamaica
-
US trade deficit expands less than expected in May: govt
-
'The god took away my son': Indians grieve after deadly stampede
-
Moscow hit by heat not seen in over a century
-
US private hiring eases unexpectedly in June: ADP
-
Confident Kroos says Germany-Spain clash 'won't be my last game'
-
Paris bars to open 24h for Olympics opening ceremony
-
Putin, Xi vie for influence at Central Asian summit
-
Germany, Sweden arrest eight over Syria crimes against humanity
-
French giant Mpetshi Perricard joins Wimbledon heavy artillery
-
Two-time Major winner Langer to make 'emotional' European Tour bow
-
French PM urges united front to stop far-right takeover
-
Olympic silver medallist gymnast Poujade dies at 51
-
Bhole Baba: preacher at centre of Indian stampede disaster
-
Microsoft to invest 2.2 bn euros in Spain data centres
-
Showdowns, young guns and own goals as Euro 2024 head into quarter-finals
-
Russia advances in east, kills five in Dnipro strikes
-
France prosecutors request rape charges against film director
-
Schumacher blackmail suspects had 'family photos'
-
EU clears Lufthansa's proposed ITA Airways stake, with conditions
-
Indian World Cup winners head home after hurricane delay
-
120,000 'stolen' babies: Georgia's trafficking scandal
-
Only far right can win absolute majority, French PM warns
-
Turkey ride 'best save' and wave of emotion into Euros quarters
![Elephants call each other by name, study finds](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/07/76/6c/Elephants-call-each-other-by-name---213708.jpg)
Elephants call each other by name, study finds
Elephants call out to each other using individual names that they invent for their fellow pachyderms, a study said on Monday.
While dolphins and parrots have been observed addressing each other by mimicking the sound of others from their species, elephants are the first non-human animals known to use names that do not involve imitation, the researchers suggested.
For the new study, a team of international researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to analyse the calls of two wild herds of African savannah elephants in Kenya.
The research "not only shows that elephants use specific vocalisations for each individual, but that they recognise and react to a call addressed to them while ignoring those addressed to others," lead study author Michael Pardo said.
"This indicates that elephants can determine whether a call was intended for them just by hearing the call, even when out of its original context," the behavioural ecologist at Colorado State University said in a statement.
The researchers sifted through elephant "rumbles" recorded at Kenya's Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park between 1986 and 2022.
Using a machine learning algorithm, they identified 469 distinct calls, which included 101 elephants issuing a call and 117 receiving one.
Elephant make a wide range of sounds, from loud trumpeting to rumbles so low they cannot be heard by the human ear.
Names were not always used in the elephant calls. But when names were called out, it was often over a long distance, and when adults were addressing young elephants.
Adults were also more likely to use names than calves, suggesting it could take years to learn this particular talent.
The most common call was "a harmonically rich, low-frequency sound," according to the study in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
- Say my name -
When the researchers played a recording to an elephant of their friend or family member calling out their name, the animal responded positively and "energetically," the researchers said.
But the same elephant was far less enthusiastic when played the names of others.
Unlike those mischievous parrots and dolphins, the elephants did not merely imitate the call of the intended recipient.
This suggests that elephants and humans are the only two animals known to invent "arbitrary" names for each other, rather than merely copying the sound of the recipient.
"The evidence provided here that elephants use non-imitative sounds to label others indicates they have the ability for abstract thought," senior study author George Wittemyer said.
The researchers called for more research into the evolutionary origin of this talent for name-calling, given that the ancestors of elephants diverged from primates and cetaceans around 90 million years ago.
Despite our differences, humans and elephants share many similarities such as "extended family units with rich social lives, underpinned by highly developed brains," Save the Elephants CEO Frank Pope said.
"That elephants use names for one another is likely only the start of the revelations to come."
S.Caetano--PC