Buzz
We often overlook the seemingly nonsensical sounds made by animals, yet many of them communicate in ways far more sophisticated than we might think. While we're not suggesting muskrats are speaking English or toads reciting Shakespeare in Latin, some forms of animal communication will surely surprise you.
10. Cats Only Meow to Humans
Cats don’t actually meow at other cats. While they have other ways to communicate with fellow felines, such as body language and hissing, meowing is exclusively reserved for humans. They meow to greet you, ask for attention or food (kittens mew at their mothers, which is the only exception), or to signal that they want something, like being let outside. It’s just another clever way cats have found to rule the world.
9. Prairie Dogs Have Remarkable Communication Skills
Quick, who’s the brightest animal in the kingdom? Dolphins? Primates? The answer might surprise you: prairie dogs. Yes, those funny little rodents you often spot popping up from burrows in the desert. And they could very well be calling you chubby. Researchers have recently cracked the code of their calls, revealing that prairie dog language could be the most intricate nonhuman language ever discovered. These creatures can provide detailed descriptions of predators, covering everything from species to size and shape. Remarkably, they can even communicate what color clothes a person is wearing and, on at least one occasion, whether they were carrying a weapon. All of this is conveyed in a single chirp that lasts less than a second.
8. Beetles Communicate in Morse Code
Navigating through the vast tunnels of a tree’s dense wood can be a tricky task for a wood insect. To tackle this challenge, a species known as the death-watch beetle employs a system reminiscent of Morse code. It taps its head against the tunnel walls, creating echoes that travel along the length of the tunnel to communicate with its fellow beetles. This very method of communication is also the origin of their name: In their native England, these beetles often infested wooden structures, and their rapping sound at night was reminiscent of the ticking of a threatening clock, which led to their eerie name.
7. Elephants Have Unique Voices
While it's clear that every human has a distinct voice, we often assume that animals' vocalizations are all alike. However, biologist Andrea Turkalo has uncovered that elephants too have individual voices. After 19 years of studying a herd of forest elephants in the Congo, Turkalo can now recognize each elephant by the sound of its call. She is currently working to decode their vocalizations and create an elephant dictionary, likely filled with an abundance of vowels.
6. Hens Communicate with Their Eggs, And the Eggs Respond
While it’s normal for a mother to softly speak to her unborn child, many women would probably be startled if their fetus replied. Not so for a mother hen—this is just part of the routine. About a day before hatching, chicks begin to peep from within their eggs. The mother hen responds with clucks, reassuring her little one in a sweet, albeit slightly eerie, exchange.
5. Baboons Are Not Fans of Slang
Anyone who dislikes when meaningless words invade everyday speech can relate to baboons. In a study, six baboons were given thousands of tests over six weeks, where they used touch-screen computers to identify real words versus made-up ones. The fake words weren’t just random letters but were cleverly crafted to look like plausible words, such as “dran” and “telk.” The baboons were impressively accurate, correctly identifying the nonsense words 75 percent of the time. So don’t fret if you can’t keep up with the latest slang—it’s not just humans who can tell it’s nonsense.
4. You Might Not Hear A Frog Speak
Did you think dogs were the only animals that could hear sounds outside the range of human hearing? Think again. A species of frog from Southeast Asia, Huia cavitympanum, communicates using ultrasonic frequencies that humans can’t hear. These frogs are capable of both hearing and producing sounds up to 38 kilohertz—18 kilohertz higher than our limit. Scientists believe these frogs use such high frequencies to communicate because they live in areas with rushing water, where lower frequencies would be hard to detect. Or perhaps they just don’t want you to overhear their conversations.
3. Some Fish Use Sign Language
No, they’re not performing the ASL alphabet, although that would be quite a sight. Instead, a species of fish known as coral groupers uses a form of dance to communicate with fellow members of their hunting team. They lay traps for prey, and when one enters, they point their noses toward it and do a little wiggle to signal its presence. This move serves as a call to action, like saying “Alright, let’s go hunting this weekend!” These fish join an exclusive club of species that use booty-shaking for communication, alongside humans and honeybees.
2. Parrots Are More Than Just Repeaters
There are documented instances where parrots don’t merely repeat sounds they hear, but actually learn words and engage in conversations. One famous example is Alex, an African grey parrot who became well-known for identifying colors and understanding abstract ideas like size and difference. He could even joke with his trainer, snapping “Don’t you tell me to calm down.” Other parrots with impressive vocabularies include Prudle, who knew 800 words at the time of her death and held a Guinness World Record, and N’kisi, with a vocabulary of 950 words, who also shared Alex’s sense of humor.
1. Dolphins Master a Second Language
Talking in your sleep can be a bit embarrassing, but an observation of a group of dolphins in slumber revealed they may have been “speaking” in a whole new way. The dolphins, who performed at a French aquatic park, had been exposed to whale songs during their shows. Although they’ve never been seen mimicking these songs while awake, the sounds they produced while sleeping bore an uncanny resemblance.
