ANIMAL CURIOSITIES

Dolphins, like humans, change their voices when "talking" to their pups: study

New scientific research has been able to show how, just as human mothers do with their children, dolphin mothers also use 'baby-talk', a kind of language and tone of voice that they use when they need to communicate with their babies.

The study meticulously analysed sounds collected by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and was published in 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' (PNAS). The original title of the article is 'Bottlenose dolphin mothers modify signature whistles in the presence of their own calves'.

The authors of the study therefore found several similarities in the behaviour of humans and dolphins, and they hope that these new findings will especially help to protect this delicate species from future threats. Furthermore, it is hoped that this study will serve as a source of inspiration for other similar research on the types of language and behaviour that mothers use with their pups.

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Dolphin mothers use "baby-talk" just like humans
New scientific research has been able to show how, just as human mothers do with their children, dolphin mothers also use 'baby-talk', a kind of language and tone of voice that they use when they need to communicate with their babies.
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The study
The study meticulously analysed sounds collected by researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The original title of the article is 'Bottlenose dolphin mothers modify signature whistles in the presence of their own calves'.
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The hopes of this study
The authors of the study therefore found many similarities in the behaviour of humans and dolphins, and they hope that these new findings will especially help to protect this delicate species from future threats. Furthermore, it is hoped that this study will serve as a source of inspiration for other similar research on the types of language and behaviour that mothers use with their pups.
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How the research was conducted
The work the researchers did was to analyse the recordings of 19 adult female bottlenose dolphins, which had previously been fitted with hydrophones to hear sounds in the sea. What was noticed, the article states, was that 'bottlenose dolphin mothers can modify their usual whistles in a very similar way to what human mothers do with their offspring, a behavioural pattern that appears to be almost universal across cultures and languages. In one example, which has been slowed down eight times so that the human ear can hear it, the characteristic whistle of a bottlenose dolphin mother reaches a considerably higher pitch in the second whistle when she was with her offspring'.
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Mothers use different frequencies with pups
When interacting with their pups, their mothers' whistles use frequencies that are higher pitched and have a wider range. WHOI research biologist Laela Saych commented: "The fact that dolphins use 'baby talk' is an excellent example of what we call convergent evolution. This is a type of communication strategy that has evolved in three very different species: human, dolphin and zebra finch'.
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The words of the study's coauthor
Nicole El Haddad from Bicocca University in Milan, Italy, added: 'It has been well documented that dolphins are able to learn vocal production, which is a key aspect of human communication. This study adds new evidence on the similarities between dolphins and humans. It would be interesting to compare the vocal aspects of different marine mammal mothers in the presence or absence of their offspring'.
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