Would you believe that dolphins have communication patterns that are similar to ours?

Dolphins are among one of the smartest mammals on the earth, along with chimpanzees and, of course, humans. Their communicative skills have impressed humans for years and recent research has been found to suggest that human-like conversational patterns are present in dolphin communications.

Each mammal has their own systems and communication patterns – where humans form sentences and partake in a dialogue. We can monitor dolphins and their unique clicks and sounds.

According to a recent study, however, it seems that dolphins have displayed certain characteristics of human conversation in their communications with other dolphins. The study was conducted in Russia and has since been published in the St. Petersburg Polytechnical University Journal: Physics and Mathematics. It shows that dolphins have a one-on-one, back and forth communication style that resembles that of a human conversation.

The study followed two Black Sea Bottlenose Dolphins, Yana and Yasha, as they communicated with one another. Researchers recorded and studied the interaction and found that the dolphins would stop talking in order to listen to what the other had to ‘say’, resembling a conversation between two humans.

For years, scientists have been studying the hundreds of sounds that dolphins can make, usually in a string of squeaks and clicks, in order to communicate with each other. However, this new evidence of pauses and responses is an exciting new discovery in the field of aquatic mammals.

Leading researcher Dr. Ryabov explained that recordings and findings such as these allow us to assume that each sound represents a word in the dolphin’s language, something that is only present in high levels of intelligence.

Dolphins have been known to be one of the most incredible and intelligent animals to live on the earth, with the ability to dive for up to 12 minutes, survive on minimal sleep once a baby is born, and even save humans when they are in danger in the water.

We have studied dolphins for decades, but this new evidence on their communication patterns is one of the most exciting. It means that maybe, some day, we could possibly be able to have some form of communication with our aquatic counterparts.


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