Dolphins name themselves with a whistle
The marine mammals respond only to their own handles
By Meghan Rosen, 12:18 PM July 22, 2013
To call a dolphin, just whistle a squeaky shout-out.
Bottlenose dolphins answer to high-pitched bursts of sound — but each animal responds to only one specific trill, its “signature whistle,” Stephanie King and Vincent Janik of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland report July 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The signature whistle, a distinct tune each dolphin develops for itself and broadcasts to others, may act as a sort of audible nametag.
Scientists knew dolphi...
Source URL: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dolphins-name-themselves-whistle