About the Episode 🎙️
This is an episode of the podcast Stuff You Should Know from iHeartRadio. The hosts Josh and Chuck discuss how humans are learning to communicate with animals and understand their languages.
Key Takeaways 💡
- (05:13) Dogs have evolved a muscle called the levator anguli oculi medialis that allows them to make 'puppy dog eyes', which is a form of communication with humans that wolves do not have.
- (10:43) Humans and horses have co-evolved the ability to communicate and understand each other through body language and muscle movements when riding together.
- (12:46) Some tribes like the Jawa people in Mozambique and the Hadza in Tanzania use specific calls to communicate with and guide honeyguide birds to honey sources in a mutually beneficial relationship.
- (20:00) In the 1970s, studies showed that animals like vervet monkeys, Campbell's monkeys, and prairie dogs have different alarm calls and vocalizations to communicate specific threats and concepts, suggesting they have language capabilities.
- (29:36) Japanese tits have a specific order for their alarm calls about snakes, showing they have a form of grammar in their vocalizations.
- (31:07) Bees are born with an innate ability to do the 'waggle dance' to communicate food locations, but learn to do it more accurately by observing other bees.
- (32:33) Great apes use similar gestures and body language across groups, but with slight variations, indicating they have dialects in their communication methods.
- (40:32) Whales like sperm whales and orcas have complex vocalizations and distinct clan dialects, with orcas even understanding the calls of other species like bottlenose dolphins.
- (45:42) Humans and animals like whales have spindle cells in brain regions associated with emotion and empathy, suggesting whales may have deep inner lives and ability to communicate complex thoughts and feelings.
- (49:03) Projects like CETI and Earth Species Project are using AI and machine learning to try to decode and translate animal languages, which could profoundly change human-animal relationships.