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D.L. Herzing
vidual, pod, and species recognition through signature whistles, dialect, or
species whistles; short- and long-term memory abilities, inference about the
function of signature whistles, and the need for individual recognition
within the group in order to sustain long-term relationships; and the application of flexible modeling systems in their conspecific and allospecific
behavior through mimicry, imitation, coordination, and synchrony of
behavior.
Although there is no existing evidence for the use of referential signals
by dolphins in the wild, as has been observed for primates (Cheney and
Seyfarth 1982), experimentally dolphins utilize a "point" system for drawing attention to an object with a human observer present (Xitco 1996).
Although unique to the human audience, this may suggest that dolphins
utilize another system of pointing, possibly through their focused echolocation beam, to draw and share attention to an object. The utilization
of their whole body as a point may also be another way of drawing attention to a specific object or referent. The evolutionary pressure should be
great for maximizing information of individuals and subsequently relaying
it back to the group. Attaining samples of referential signal use in appropriate behavioral contexts, such as sounding the alarm about specific
predators, or announcing discovery of food sources as has been described
for terrestrial species (Hauser 1996), may be difficult in the aquatic
environment.
Rhythms and prosodic features may be important in the encoding and
decoding of language (Simmons and Baltaxe 1975). Both rhythm and body
motion are often in synchrony with emotional states, and rhythmic acoustic
exchanges occur between many animals. Mimicry has been documented
to be critical in both intra- and interspecies communciation (Richards
et al. 1984; Xitco 1988). Biological entrainment (the natural tendency for
communication signals, including nerve pulses, pheromones, and social
behavior to display contagion), is a feature both of the basic mammalian
nervous system and of higher social and interactive systems (Raloff
1996).
Concomitantly, movement and postures may serve to not only supplement but break up acoustic utterances into units, analogous to highly
refined codes such as human utterances that form consonants and break up
glottal vowel codes into various units (Savage-Rumbaugh 1994). Aspects
such as voice onset are critical parameters in human speech. Consonants,
which are basically short clicks and hisses, act as boundaries around vowels,
allowing us to perceive discrete categories or phonetic units. Both nonhuman and human animals have evolved to hear clicks and hisses as
environmental information, utilizing longer vowel-like sounds for communication. Even though auditory systems have evolved different ways of
listening, universal acoustic features including sharp onset times, fundamental frequency use, and prosodic elements of rhythm and space show
evolutionary continuity between species.
D.L. Herzing
vidual, pod, and species recognition through signature whistles, dialect, or
species whistles; short- and long-term memory abilities, inference about the
function of signature whistles, and the need for individual recognition
within the group in order to sustain long-term relationships; and the application of flexible modeling systems in their conspecific and allospecific
behavior through mimicry, imitation, coordination, and synchrony of
behavior.
Although there is no existing evidence for the use of referential signals
by dolphins in the wild, as has been observed for primates (Cheney and
Seyfarth 1982), experimentally dolphins utilize a "point" system for drawing attention to an object with a human observer present (Xitco 1996).
Although unique to the human audience, this may suggest that dolphins
utilize another system of pointing, possibly through their focused echolocation beam, to draw and share attention to an object. The utilization
of their whole body as a point may also be another way of drawing attention to a specific object or referent. The evolutionary pressure should be
great for maximizing information of individuals and subsequently relaying
it back to the group. Attaining samples of referential signal use in appropriate behavioral contexts, such as sounding the alarm about specific
predators, or announcing discovery of food sources as has been described
for terrestrial species (Hauser 1996), may be difficult in the aquatic
environment.
Rhythms and prosodic features may be important in the encoding and
decoding of language (Simmons and Baltaxe 1975). Both rhythm and body
motion are often in synchrony with emotional states, and rhythmic acoustic
exchanges occur between many animals. Mimicry has been documented
to be critical in both intra- and interspecies communciation (Richards
et al. 1984; Xitco 1988). Biological entrainment (the natural tendency for
communication signals, including nerve pulses, pheromones, and social
behavior to display contagion), is a feature both of the basic mammalian
nervous system and of higher social and interactive systems (Raloff
1996).
Concomitantly, movement and postures may serve to not only supplement but break up acoustic utterances into units, analogous to highly
refined codes such as human utterances that form consonants and break up
glottal vowel codes into various units (Savage-Rumbaugh 1994). Aspects
such as voice onset are critical parameters in human speech. Consonants,
which are basically short clicks and hisses, act as boundaries around vowels,
allowing us to perceive discrete categories or phonetic units. Both nonhuman and human animals have evolved to hear clicks and hisses as
environmental information, utilizing longer vowel-like sounds for communication. Even though auditory systems have evolved different ways of
listening, universal acoustic features including sharp onset times, fundamental frequency use, and prosodic elements of rhythm and space show
evolutionary continuity between species.