Discovery Reveals Elephants Use Personal Nicknames in Communication

Research has uncovered a remarkable behavior among African elephants: they appear to use vocalized names to address each other. These “names” consist of specific rumbles, marking a novel discovery in the field of animal communication.

Never before has an animal been documented to create unique, individual names for one another, standing in contrast to species like parrots and dolphins that are only known to mimic sounds.

“It’s really exciting,” commented Dr Joyce Poole from ElephantVoices, who contributed to the research that was shared in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal. Dr Poole discussed with Sky News that the social structure of elephants mirrors humans in ways, with families parting and rejoining over time, making the use of these names a crucial part of their interaction.

These names are thought to be important in reuniting family members or for communicating across large distances.

‘Sandy!’ calls Shirley the elephant<​p>An ​elephant known as ‘Shirley’ was recorded calling out to ‘Sandy,’ showing a sound that is distinct from the iconic trumpeting calls we often attribute to elephants. According to the research team, the sound is a long, deep rumble, lasting about six seconds.

Another elephant, named ‘Echo,’ was recorded calling to ‘Ella.’ Each elephant’s “name” demonstrates unique acoustics, with Ella’s being lower in tone and descending to a more gradual end compared to Sandy’s.

The research involved extensive use of artificial intelligence, which analyzed recorded calls dating back to 1986 from elephants in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park and Samburu National Reserve.

When evaluating calls within the data, the AI model was able to identify the addressed individual 28% of the time, suggesting the presence of it​s​ name. This dropped to only 8% when the model was presented with irrelevant data.

Study co-author and biologist from Cornell University, Mickey Pardo, advised NBC News that despite the use of names, they ​are ​likely not a constant feature in communication, hence the 28% recognition rate rather than an expected full accuracy.

According to the study, elephant communication often involves low-frequency rumbles that can be transmitted over distances of two kilometers across the Savannah.

The ‘let’s go’ rumble

Dr Poole, with her nearly half-century experience researching elephants, recalled that back in 2005, they discovered elephants could imitate the sounds of trucks and other species.

“So we knew that elephants… were able to be creative. We wondered why that would be?” Dr Poole said during her interview with Sky News.

Now, the most recent findings suggest that this creativity extends to coining nicknames for each other, but possibly even more. Dr Poole refers to another vocalization known as the ‘let’s go’ rumble.

An elephant initiates movement by standing, pointing, and calling repeatedly in the desired direction. These calls sometimes spark a vocal exchange amongst the elephants, with Dr Poole speculating that they could be discussing their travel preferences or even have place names for frequent destinations.