Elephants engage in name-calling, according to a new report in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Unlike a few other animals — like dolphins and parrots — that respond to others imitating their signature call, an elephant’s name is its own separate word.
This finding was born in the field, but confirmed with experiments. It’s been well established that one elephant can signal an entire group with what Joyce Poole, cofounder of Elephant Voices, a nonprofit organization that researches elephant communication, and an author of the paper calls a contact call.
When Poole observed a single elephant signaling a group with a powerful rumble, the group would often respond collectively.
However, sometimes one elephant would call and almost everyone in the family would ignore it. Then one would lift its head and appear to listen. That prompted some questions.
“Are these elephants rude so that they are not answering?” says Poole. “Or ...
