It is not new that some animal species show language patterns to communicate between individuals. In particular, orcas communicate with each other using a great variety of sounds, even presenting “dialects”, or variants in communication signals.
Now, research has determined how killer whales, with their ability to use a wide variety of sounds, can mimic human language. At least the sound of some words.
In an investigation that worked with a female orca, the scientists reported that this specimen was able to imitate the phrases “hello”, “goodbye”, “Amy” and “one, two, three”. In addition, the orca was also able to imitate the howl of a wolf, the sweep of an elephant, and the sound of a door creaking. It was even able to reproduce new sounds quickly; some, on the first try.
The findings suggest that an orca’s ability to mimic likely plays an important role in building killer whales’ unique “vocal traditions.”
The killer whale the researchers worked with, a 14-year-old captive named Wikie , was exposed to recordings of sounds unknown to her and words spoken by her trainers. The orca, previously trained to obey orders, was instructed to copy the sounds.
The scientists then compared their calls to the original sounds using an algorithm that maps two linear sequences, calculating where they coincide. The investigators also had impartial judges, who listened to the sounds blindfolded, and had to determine whether or not the recordings sounded similarly.
The results concluded that Wikie successfully mimicked all the sounds, most of which it was able to reproduce in less than 10 attempts. Specifically, “hello” and “one, two, three” were emitted by the orca specimen on the first attempt.
Interestingly, Wikie’s mimicry of unfamiliar sounds was better than its mimicry with familiar ones, as the reviews showed.
“They weren’t perfect imitations but they were certainly recognizable,” the study authors reported. Yes indeed; the rate of successful pronunciation varied. Wikie produced an accurate version of “hello” 55% of the time, while its “goodbye” was “correct” only 21% of the time, according to the study.
In addition, logically, the fact that animals can imitate human sounds does not mean that they understand our language , they warn.
Masters of Imitation
Like killer whales, other animals have been shown to have the ability to imitate sounds for an evolutionary purpose.
As published by Live Science , the polka-dot wasp mimics the warning tumult produced by a species of foul-tasting moth to protect itself from predators, scientists reported in May 2007, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
Additionally, a type of cat called margay, native to the Amazon, mimics so-called multi-colored tamarins to attract innocent monkey prey, while a bird known as the fork-tailed drongo can mimic the alarm calls of up to 45 others. species of birds, according to a study published in May 2014 in the journal Science .
