(no subject)
I don't like putting the human species above others. Chuang Tzu (I think) said in story once the only difference between humans and animals is our appearance.
Now Prairie Dogs Found to Have Complex Language
10-Dec-2004
There are parrots with large and complex vocabularies, apes that can sign, and a pod of dolphins that recently saved a group of human swimmers from a shark attack.
Now, it seems that prairie dogs don't just yap a few signals, they have a complex language that evolves with time, has dialects, and contains hundreds of words.
According to Northern Arizona University biology professor Con Slobodchikoff, prairie dogs have different words for different specific people who come around their towns, different words for different types of bird flying overhead, and can come up with new words for things they've never seen before.
Prairie dogs in four different towns across the southwest were found to have different dialects and accents, but could probably understand one another.
The animals 'speak' in a complicated mix of yips, growls and barks which most scientists have assumed were nothing more than warning sounds or mating calls. Slobodchikoff says that the animals can discuss animals they see around them, and may even gossip among themselves.
When shown new animals that they had never seen before, captive prairie dogs independently came up with the same 'words' to descirbe them. They even had different words for animals and plywood profiles of those animals that were run through their towns on cables.
The calls can be broken down into parts, and appear to work like multi-syllable words.
Now Prairie Dogs Found to Have Complex Language
10-Dec-2004
There are parrots with large and complex vocabularies, apes that can sign, and a pod of dolphins that recently saved a group of human swimmers from a shark attack.
Now, it seems that prairie dogs don't just yap a few signals, they have a complex language that evolves with time, has dialects, and contains hundreds of words.
According to Northern Arizona University biology professor Con Slobodchikoff, prairie dogs have different words for different specific people who come around their towns, different words for different types of bird flying overhead, and can come up with new words for things they've never seen before.
Prairie dogs in four different towns across the southwest were found to have different dialects and accents, but could probably understand one another.
The animals 'speak' in a complicated mix of yips, growls and barks which most scientists have assumed were nothing more than warning sounds or mating calls. Slobodchikoff says that the animals can discuss animals they see around them, and may even gossip among themselves.
When shown new animals that they had never seen before, captive prairie dogs independently came up with the same 'words' to descirbe them. They even had different words for animals and plywood profiles of those animals that were run through their towns on cables.
The calls can be broken down into parts, and appear to work like multi-syllable words.