From Wikipedia: "Animal communication is the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more other animals (receiver or receivers) which affects either the current or future behavior of the receivers. The transfer of information may be deliberate (e.g. a courtship display) or it may be unintentional (e.g. a prey animal detecting the scent of a predator). When animal communication involves multiple receivers, this may be referred to as an "audience". The study of animal communication is a rapidly growing area of study and plays an important part in the disciplines of animal behavior, sociobiology, neurobiology and animal cognition.Even in the 21st century, many prior understandings related to diverse fields such as personal symbolic name use, animal emotions, learning and animal sexual behavior, long thought to be well understood, have been revolutionized."
In an ancient Indian story called "Vikram and Vedal", the king Vikram is known to understand many animal languages including birds languages. In Wotan's famous opera "Siegfried" from the Ring Cycle, we know that the epic hero - Siegfried - learns from a Woodbird (forest bird) and gets the warnings.
I also recently read an article in a Science magazine about understanding dogs language & how the pet-dogs regard their owners etc.
Your views are welcome.. Muchas Gracias !!
Quite interesting. Thank you!
I would also adapt this question in the sense of reviewing 2 different issues:
1. How do animals communicate in their own species;
2,. How do animals communicate with different species, including with humans.
(See for example, how birds communicate sounds to attract their mates at dawn, and how, accidentally they also attract humans...; See how wild animals emit sounds to frighten other species - think of the gorilla, clasping wrists against his chest-...)
I have noticed that one of my 2 cats is more eager to communicate with me, not only in terms of his body language, which is easy to understand, but also by vocalizing answers to my verbal questions and remarks. Domesticated dogs are well known for this kind of interaction with humans, as they easily learn our language and simple training comands, and often bark with different sounds that humans easily understand)
I hope these persional remarks were useful.
I am much interested in following the results of this question.
I send my best regards! Maria
I am not the expert. I just know that Bees dance when they have found nectar. The scout bee will dance in the hive, and the dance directs other bees to the location of the nectar.
I am working on optimization and as you know, there are optimization algorithms (Artificial Bee Algorithm for instance) originated from Bees communication and behavior!
They use/exploit/sense/perceive dynamics in energy-related aspects.
Because of the infinite amount of energy-based information that surrounds a living being, senders and receivers should co-evolve to exploit the relevant energy-based information that is exchanged.
Dear Sundarapandian,
Each animal has his communication system. Some more complex than others. I have 3 dogs, I usually say that I need to take them to the phonoaudiologist to discover why they are not speaking. They understand at least 200 words. And they understand gestures and they also let us know if they want something like eating, going for a walk, if they want us to pet their heads, and much more.
Bees, ants, birds, dolphins, cats, monekys have very complex and interesting communicating systems. It is impressive for an animal, but limited for the interactions they need to live among humans.
A particular aspect of the life of the animals is to emit chemical signals or physical, that received from another individual influence its behavior. Normally we consider the "communication" between the animals as an adaptive phenomenon, in which evolution has produced in the animal that emits signals and in that the receiving structure and behavior acts to perform their function. Communications can occur between animals of the same species, and are the best known, but also between animals of different species. In the mechanism of communication we can distinguish three stages: the individual issuer under the influence of external and internal stimuli produces, using various methods and encoding it through the central nervous system, chemical or physical entity that signal; the signal is then transmitted, distance and varies across different media (air, water, soil) to the individual receiving it collects through a particular sense organ; through the central nervous system of the receiver, the signal is decoded, that is interpreted, and causes changes in the internal conditions of the animal.
If you want to go deep into that see those links below:
http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/an-introduction-to-animal-communication-23648715
http://hem.hj.se/~lsj/langevoc.pdf
http://sites.sinauer.com/animalcommunication2e/
http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~seyfarth/Publications/Seyfarth%20et%20al.%202010.pdf
A lot of animals, and each animal communicates by one or more techniques. The result is an infinity of communication methods. I don´t know where to begin.
Most animals (including people) use “body language” as well as sound and smell in order to communicate with one another. Here are some of the ways animals express themselves.
Many animals communicate by smell: they release pheromones (airborne chemicals) to send messages to others. Pheromones play an important part in reproduction and other social behavior.
- Chimpanzees greet each other by touching hands.
- Male fiddler crabs wave their giant claw to attract female fiddler crabs.
- White-tailed deer show alarm by flicking up their tails.
- Dogs stretch their front legs out in front of them and lower their bodies when they want to play.
- Elephants show affection by entwining their trunks.
- Giraffes press their necks together when they are attracted to each other.
- Gorillas stick out their tongues to show anger.
- Kangaroos thump their hind legs to warn others of danger.
- Prairie dogs bare their teeth and press their mouths together to discover if they are friends or foes.
- Whales breach (leap out of the water) repeatedly to send messages to other whales.
- Swans entwine their long necks both to fight and to court.
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0768578.html
Interesting is that animals also communicate inside their own body, e.g. communication between cells/organs/..., which implies that the individual animal will be simultaneously sender and receiver, also with an infinity of communication methods of which a tiny fraction is perceived by other receivers.
There are four types of animal communication
Visual Communication
There are two types of visual communication. The first type of visual communication is the colour and shape of the animal itself. This is called the badge. The second type of visual communication describes the things that the animal does to communicate, including behaviour. This is called the display.
Visual communication, through display, is most useful when animals are close enough together to see visual signals. Think about how a dog wags its tail to give a visual signal that it is happy. The Australian frilled-neck lizard opens its mouth and unfolds its frill when it is frightened. This is a visual signal that makes the lizard look larger to its predators.
Auditory Communication
Auditory refers to hearing and describes the sounds that animals use to talk to each other. Animals communicate by sound because it can travel over long distances very quickly and can be heard during the day or at night. Sound is a good form of communication because it only lasts for a short time, so it is not easily tracked by predators. It is an adaptable signal, which means that animals can change the volume of sound depending on the conditions.
Animals are able to use sound to warn about danger or to tell other animals that they are angry. The loud bark of a guard dog signals that it is angry and that you should stay away from it to avoid getting hurt.
Tactile Communication
Tactile means touch. This type of communication describes how animals communicate through touch. Touch is used in different ways to communicate messages between animals. Mother cats nuzzle their kittens to comfort them, male deer lock horns and fight to show which is dominant. Dogs lick their owners to show them that they are happy.
Chemical Communication
This type of communication describes how animals communicate through smell (scent) and taste. Animal scents can remain long after the animal that left the scent has disappeared. This can be a signal to other animals that may tell them to keep away from that area or send a danger warning.
Insects that live in groups leave different smells for different messages. They leave scents that warn of danger, that lead to the colony or that ask for help
http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-11_u-26_t-72_c-256/how-animals-communicate/nsw/science-technology/way-out-communication/animal-communication-methods
Animals do not have the ability to speak, articulate different speech sounds or master advanced language techniques, but they surely have other ways of communicating. Most animals use 'body language' plus sound and smell in order to communicate with one another. For examples:
Horses rub noses as a sign of affection.
Bees start dancing when they find nectar.
Gorillas stick out their tongues to show anger.
I'm not from zoology field, i think that they communicate by flair, by instincts and by sensoriel communications (visual, olfactory, chemical, etc...)
Quite interesting. Thank you!
I would also adapt this question in the sense of reviewing 2 different issues:
1. How do animals communicate in their own species;
2,. How do animals communicate with different species, including with humans.
(See for example, how birds communicate sounds to attract their mates at dawn, and how, accidentally they also attract humans...; See how wild animals emit sounds to frighten other species - think of the gorilla, clasping wrists against his chest-...)
I have noticed that one of my 2 cats is more eager to communicate with me, not only in terms of his body language, which is easy to understand, but also by vocalizing answers to my verbal questions and remarks. Domesticated dogs are well known for this kind of interaction with humans, as they easily learn our language and simple training comands, and often bark with different sounds that humans easily understand)
I hope these persional remarks were useful.
I am much interested in following the results of this question.
I send my best regards! Maria
A single communication signal, e.g. a bird song of 2 seconds, may contain a lot of potential information dealing with species identity, motivation, individual identity, origin, health status, etc.... This does imply that all the information reflected in a signal will be exploited by receivers
Friends - have you seen the movie - "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" ??
Along with typical sound (Dolffin(show path to lost sailors), Wahel etc), with smell(Dog,Cat etc), and organs like tail, ears, lips, eyes, animals communicates, and are very useful to human, for special work in solving the theafts, murder or drugs related cases for police. With their typical special sence, they save life of people in snow avalench or earthquake. In Nicobar/Andaman Island, peoples are saved as they could judge by the strange behavioure of animals, and went to higher ground, with them at the time of tsunami, in Indian ocean. There is lot of scope of new research in this field, for Zoologist and animal(vatenary) Doctors............
Dear All,
Generally, insects in order to find resources (food, mate etc.) should keep a straight line. They keep a constant angle with the sun or other (natural) lights. Honey bees are able to give information on the angle with the sun as well as the distance of food (pollen, nectar). Returning foragers dance in the hive to inform the other bees. When the food is near, they perform a round figure, but at greater distance they take a figure–eight and they waggle with their bodies. The line between the two knots of eight gives the angle with the sun but transformed to the hive relationship.
The number of waggles correlates with the distance of food source but regarding bee subspecies this is various.
Other information change of insects is the chemical communication by pheromones. This serves mainly to find mates. Females produce sexual pheromones and males are the receivers. This communication is used in forecasting of pests even in their delusion as an opportunity for insect control. Other insects (woodborers) can inform their conspecific individuals on food directions and availability even on the population density of the resource using individuals.
There are insects communicating by their songs (Orthoptera: cricets, locusts and grasshoppers) and are able to pass as many information as Marcel mentioned in case of birds.
Based on what Andras described about the bee dance, I would be inclined to say: these bees are efficient teachers, or not?
No teachers dear Marcel, communicators. They don´t use didactics, just transmitting infos and that very efficiently.
Dear Maria,
It is amazing to know that you have noticed that one of my 2 cats you have is more eager to communicate with you, not only in terms of its body language, but also by vocalizing answers to your verbal questions and remarks. Thank you for this information.
An activated sixth sense or subtle perception ability is an important tool in conducting spiritual research. Can animals have a sixth sense?
In Silver Blaze, Sherlock Holmes solves the case brilliantly by noting down the curious case of the dog that did not bark in the night.
Marcel is right!
Quite an interesting question -- came to me several times since childhood!!
I believe animals have far highly developed sixth sense and though they do not communicate through a language with humans, they sense the sentiments and catch the vibrations from far. People who keep pets at home would agree that at times of a death in the family, they too go into shock and grief and refuse to eat anything. And at the time of birth in the family, they automatically become very caring of the new member. How they communicate with their own species using various sounds is extensively covered by 'Animal Planet' TV channel series.
And as we believe that languages are man-made, then how did even humans communicate before the invent of languages? It might be that humans have really constrained their sixth sense ability because of commuicating more through verbal languages.
Dog see death in family, more closely than human, and starts cring in special typical voice with changed behavior, is my personal experience.
May be we underestimate animals, like Marcel pointed it out. But I´m sure there is no mystic sixth sense. The senses we know are sufficient to find explanations. No cryptic vibrations or other mythic behaviours. If we don´t understand yet, it´s no sign for mysticism. I think we should do some more experiments and research to find out all the techniques animals use.
We all know the soulfull stories about pets falling into sadness, refusing food for some time, accepting new members of the pack ( a very normal animal behaviour) etc. Could be that we do some projections of our own feelings to the animals and forget our human ability to analyse objectively.
Do human scientists understand their own communication system expressed within the human brain, e.g. different neurons/brain parts being interconnected with each other (brain-based communication) to produce science-based consciousness?
If we don't truly know our own brain-dependent communication system (e.g. connecting unconscious with conscious processes), how can, we truly understand the communication systems of other living beings?
This classic quote is dedicated to RG friends - Marcel and Hanno:
(From: "Silver Blaze" - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle")
Gregory (Scotland Yard detective):
“Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”
Holmes: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”
Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”
Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”
Animals communicate for a variety of reasons. Some examples are to attract mates, threaten rivals, warn about danger, or share information about food sources. The different ways in which animals communicate can be visual, audial, or chemical (smell or taste). For highly social species, there may be facial expressions, body language, or dances.
http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/71821.aspx
They communicate with their own language, each one for every specie. The challenge is for us, to learn those languages...
The silence of an animal can convey a deep meaning also as Holmes discovered in the "Silver Blaze" - The curious incident of the dog that did not bark in the night.
Even animals can sense our feelings and communicate accordingly. Especially domesticated dog is like to friend to its owner.
Communication is important in finding food, warning of danger, indicating social status, identifying members of same species.
Animals communicate in a wide variety of ways including auditory, visual, tactile, chemical or electrical signals (ex. bird songs, alarm responses, and hierarchal dominance patterns in wolves)
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