Yes, humans may not be the only species to use personalized calls to attract the attention of their group members. In fact, even elephants seem to use real names to call their peers. The incredible discovery was made by a team of scientists from Colorado State University, in the United States, with the results of the study being published in the scientific journal 'Nature'. According to the researchers, wild African elephants address each other with specific calls, probably without relying on imitation of the recipient, as happens with other species such as dolphins or parrots,
As everyone knows, the most common call of elephants is the so-called “trumbling”, which is a low-frequency sound that pachyderms use in different contexts. As explained in the study, elephants use the “contact trumpeting” when they intend to establish contact with their peers, but there are also other types of trumpeting, such as the one to greet, used when an elephant approaches another, the “care” ones, which are instead emitted by female specimens during breastfeeding. In addition to these sounds, the researchers identified others that may contain “individual speech labels.” Virtually “personalized” sounds, and therefore different from each other, used by elephants to address specific members of their group.
American scientists examined the sounds emitted by elephants in the Samburu national reserve in Kenya and in Amboseli park between 1986 and 2022. As many as 470 sounds emitted by 101 elephants and addressed to 107 other specimens. “The research – he explained to Guardian Michael Pardo, the lead author of the study – shows not only that elephants use vocalizations specific to each individual, but that they recognize and react to a call addressed to them while ignoring those addressed to others.”
Non-imitative sounds, which according to experts are evidence of an ability to “abstract think”. After all, as recalled by the CEO of Save the Elephants, Frank Pope, it would certainly not be the first point in common between humans and elephants: “They share many things with us, such as extended family units with a rich social life, supported by highly developed brains “.