Research finds rare communication method

Bottlenose dolphins address each other using unique whistles, according to research conducted at the University of St Andrews.

Their second study on dolphin whistles this year, marine biologists Dr Stephanie King and Dr Vincent Janik looked at how signature whistles are reacted to.

An earlier study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal, found that dolphins often copy the signature calls of their close relatives and friends.

For this piece of research, Dr King, Dr Janik and their team followed groups of wild bottlenose dolphins, recording their whistles using a signature identification method.

Upon computer playback, the dolphins reacted to their own signature call – but not any others – leading the biologists to believe the whistles function as names.

"Animals have been found to use calls to label predators or food but these calls are inherited and not influenced by learning," said Dr King. "The use of new or learned sounds to label things is rare in the animal kingdom."

Dr Janik added: "Our results present the first case of naming in mammals, providing a clear parallel between dolphin and human communication."

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

Image courtesy of the University of St Andrews