"Agga, Mamma Meokjja" Even Mom Dolphins Use Baby Talk

Tracking 19 Adult Bottlenose Dolphins for About 30 Years
Different Vocal Ranges When With Calves

"Uri aegi, mamma meokjja"

A study has found that dolphins, highly intelligent animals, use 'baby talk' when communicating with their young, just like humans.

On the 27th (local time), according to the British daily The Guardian and others, a research team from Hampshire College in the United States and the University of St Andrews in Scotland announced these findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the day before.

Photo by Pixabay

The researchers tracked and observed 19 mother bottlenose dolphins living near Sarasota Bay, Florida, USA, over about 30 years from 1984 to 2018.

Since dolphins are known to communicate using unique whistle sounds for each individual, the researchers attached special microphones to the bottlenose dolphins and collected data on the whistles they produced.

Analyzing the whistle sounds made by the bottlenose dolphins in different situations?when with their calves, with adults, or alone?revealed that mother bottlenose dolphins produce higher frequency whistles when communicating with their calves than usual. The whistle pitch range was also broader compared to other situations.

Peter Tyack, a biologist at the University of St Andrews who participated in the study, stated, "All 19 mother (bottlenose dolphins) studied showed this phenomenon."

Photo by Pixabay

The exact reason why bottlenose dolphins use this kind of 'baby talk' with their calves is not yet clearly understood.

However, experts speculate that these higher-pitched whistles help the calves more easily learn how to produce new sounds. Higher-pitched sounds are also more effective in attracting the calves' attention. This applies to human infants as well.

Animals that use baby talk include not only bottlenose dolphins but also female red-haired monkeys.

The research team explained, "Dolphins are excellent animal models for studying vocal learning and language evolution."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.