/ Pets & Animals

Different Dolphins Try to Speak Same Language

Published September 13, 2011 in Love For Earthlings |
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Bottlenose and Guyana are two separate dolphin species. Each species has its own calls and sounds. An American researcher studied the two dolphin species interacting off the coast of Costa Rica. Laura May-Collado from the University of Puerto Rico found when the two separate dolphin species interacted they used a third communication style, created for those shared moments. She was near Costa Rica’s Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge off the coast when she made the discovery.

Bottlenose dolphins use longer, lower frequency sounds when they are together. Guyana dolphins use higher frequency sounds with a particular structure. May-Collado observed when the two species swam together they used sounds that were different from their normal style. They actually used sort of a hybrid or compromised style which means they both changed their communication to be more like each others. The bottlenose dolphins used somewhat higher sounds and shortened them, and the Guyana dolphins used slightly lower sounds, that were more like the ones made by the Bottlenose dolphins.

She said, “I was surprised by these findings, as I was expecting both species to emphasize, perhaps exaggerate, their species-specific signals. Instead the signals recorded during these encounters became more homogenous.” (Source: UPI)

Bottlenose dolphins are larger than the Guyana species, and the inter-species interaction can be antagonistic with the Guyana dolphins harassing the larger ones. So far her research has not determined if one species is mimicking another, or if their communication style is actually changing.

She speculated the smaller Guyana dolphins could be using the language of the Bottlenose dolphins to show they are friendly with the larger ones that harass them.

Another researcher says dolphins don’t only use sounds for communication with each other, “there is strong evidence that dolphins are able to ‘see’ with sound, much like humans use ultrasound to see an unborn child in the mother’s womb. The CymaScope provides our first glimpse into what the dolphins might be ‘seeing’ with their sounds.” (Source: Speakdolphin.com)


Adapted from an article by Jake R.

Can Dogs Be Pessimists?

Published September 12, 2011 in Love For Earthlings |
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Since the idea that animals are just little biological machines, living unemotional lives run by instinct and base condition alone, has never really sat well with many — we always sensed there was more going on inside their heads than this.

Researchers from the University of Bristol have shown via experiment that dogs can be essentially optimistic or pessimistic by nature. As The Economic Times glibly describes it, there are dogs that see the glass (uh, bowl) half empty and those which see it half full.

The experiment to demonstrate this consisted of training dogs at two UK rehousing centres that when a bowl was placed in one location in the room it contained food and when placed in another location it would be empty. After which, the food bowl was placed in various locations in between the two.

The researchers found that some dogs, classed as “optimistic,” ran quickly to the middle locations, expecting food to be there, expecting a reward. Other dogs were, shall we say, less enthusiastic.

Extrapolating, those that were optimistic in nature were less likely to be anxious when left alone than dogs with a more pessimistic nature. The researchers say that about half the dogs in the UK at some point exhibit “separation-related behaviours — toileting, barking and destroying objects around the home — when they are apart from their parents. Our study suggests that dogs showing these types of behaviour also appear to make more pessimistic judgment generally.”

Perhaps it is being too generous to ascribe optimism and pessimism to these behaviours. After all, we cannot fully know what is going on with these dogs minds, any more than we can directly know the same for humans. But it is fascinating to me nevertheless to learn that, as with people, there well may be underlying emotional states — not just conditioning — influencing the behaviour of dogs.

After all, this is what most dog parents (and pet owners more broadly) intuitively know anyway. But now you can point to a study demonstrating this.

Adapted from an article on Planet Green

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