VOA科学技术2024--African Elephants Call, Answer to Individual Names

African elephants call each other by and answer to individual names, a new study finds. Such communication is rare in the animal world.

African elephants are among the largest animals that live on land.

The names are one part of the low sounds, or rumbles¹, elephants make. They can hear these sounds over long distances where they live in the savannah - large grassy³ areas of land mixed with woodlands.

Scientists believe that animals with complex social structures may be more likely to use individual names.

Stuart Pimm of Duke University is an ecologist who was not involved with the study. He said, "If you're looking after a large family, you've got to be able to say, 'Hey, Virginia, get over here!'"

It is extremely rare for animals to call each other by individual names. Humans have names, of course, and dogs and cats may react when their names are called.

Some ocean animals, including the dolphin, invent their own names when they are very young. And the birds called parrots may also use names.

Each of these naming animals also have the ability to learn and say individual new sounds throughout their lives, as does the African elephant, the research shows.

The study was released in the publication Nature Ecology & Evolution. In the study, biologists used machine learning to find the use of names in recordings⁴ of savanna² elephant sounds. The sounds were recorded at Kenya's Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park.

The researchers followed the elephants as they traveled to observe which one called out and which one appeared to answer.

By examining only the audio data, the computer model predicted which elephant was being called 28 percent of the time, likely due to the inclusion of its name. When fed meaningless data, the model only correctly predicted eight percent of calls.

Biologist Mickey Pardo of Cornell University wrote the study. He said, "Just like humans, elephants use names, but probably don't use names in the majority" of their communications.

The low rumbles elephants make also may include sounds that are below the range of human hearing. The scientists still do not know which sounds make up a name.

Researchers tested their results by playing recordings to individual elephants. The elephants reacted more energetically, moving their ears and lifting their trunks, to recordings that contained their names. Sometimes elephants did not react in any way to the sounds of elephant names other than their own.

Ecologist George Wittemyer of Colorado State University helped write the study. He also is a scientific adviser⁵ for the nonprofit Save the Elephants, which aims to protect the animal.

He said, "Elephants are incredibly social, always talking and touching⁶ each other - this naming is probably one of the things that underpins⁷ their ability to communicate to individuals."

Wittemyer added, "We just cracked open the door a bit to the elephant mind."

Words in This Story

range - n. all of the notes that a particular person can sing or that a particular musical instrument can make

incredible⁸ - adj. extremely good, great, or large

underpins - v. to strengthen or support (something) from below

cracked - v. to find an answer or solution to (something)

 

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1 rumbles   

隆隆声，辘辘声( rumble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If I hear any rumbles I'll let you know. 我要是听到什么风声就告诉你。
• Three blocks away train rumbles by. 三个街区以外，火车隆隆驶过。

2 savanna   

n.大草原

参考例句：

• The savanna is also the home of meat-eaters--the lion,leopard,and hyena who feed on the grasseaters.大草原也是食肉动物的家乡--狮子、豹、鬣狗--它们都是以草食动物维持生命的。
• They sped upon velvet wheels across an exhilarant savanna.他们的马车轻捷地穿过一片令人赏心悦目的大草原。

3 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

7 underpins   

n.基础材料( underpin的名词复数 )；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的第三人称单数 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• A powerful sense of mission underpins everything he does. 一种强烈的使命感支撑他所做的一切。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His presence at the crime underpins the case against him. 案子发生时他在场对他更不利。 来自辞典例句

8 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。