AI Finds Elephants Use Names
Researchers from Colorado State University, Save the Elephants, and ElephantVoices used machine learning to study how elephants communicate. They found that elephants use unique calls akin to names to address specific individuals within their herds, rather than addressing the entire group uniformly.
This discovery sheds light on the sophisticated social dynamics and communication abilities of elephants, crucial for managing human-elephant conflicts in shared landscapes. By analyzing recorded calls, the team observed that elephants responded more distinctly to calls directed at them personally, highlighting the personalized nature of these vocalizations.
George Wittemyer, a study co-author, emphasizes that such naming practices in animals reflect complex communication systems essential for navigating social interactions, paralleling human evolutionary pressures.
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