Decoding Animal Language

A Case Study

“There is no fundamental difference between men and the higher animals in their mental faculties.”

-Charles Darwin

Language as a sociocultural resource in humans• Language is defined as a system of

communication that utilizes arbitrary signals such as voice sounds, gestures, and/or written symbols• Helps us navigate communicative activities

and serves as a plan to solve problems • Evolution of human language: symbolic,

brain size and language ability exapted before later use, human communication/cooperation/shared intentionality

Discussion Question: What are similarities/differences among human language and non-human animals’ language, communication, and cognitive abilities?

Human Language is Unique• Humans have a larger repertoire of symbols

with greater complexity (engage in abstract and analytical ways)• Open vocal systems with novel combinations

of symbols to express infinite number of ideas• Modality-independent - can be utilized across

multiple channels• Verbal (auditory), written/sign language (visual),

Braille (tactile)• Koko the Gorilla- can respond in GSL to two

thousand words of spoken English but she doesn’t use syntax or grammar

• Displacement: can converse about past, present, and future• Can discuss abstract or things that don’t exist

or that we cannot see

Discussion Question: How do specific animals communicate with one another? What does this communication look like? What kinds of information can they convey?

Forms of Animal Communication •Visual: morphological adaptations and displays•Auditory: Barking, growling, hissing, purring. Sound can

attract a mate, ward off threats, or express happiness or pain.• Tactile: Touch can show affection, comfort, fear, or

establish dominance.• Chemical: Chemical markings called pheromones can

mark territory, ward off predators, or attract a mate

Human & Animals: Shared Features of

Communication• Signals: sounds or gestures that have meaning to those using them• Human communication: consists of signals and symbols (sounds,

gestures, objects, or written words) that are encoded with meaning • Animals use signs, signals and sounds to communicate • Examples:• A mockingbird can mimic over 100 different song types of different

organisms and combine them into a sequence (Kershenbaum et. al, 2014).• Elephants have vocal exchanges with infrasonic calls that travel

through the environment (The Elephant Listening Project, 2015).

Prairie Dogs: A Unique Lexical System of Verbal Communication

• North Arizona University Professor, Dr. Con Slobodchikoff, has studied prairie dog language• They have different alarm calls based on predator

type (ground vs. aerial, wild vs domestic) and can describe specific physical features of each predator (clothing color, size)• "When people realize that prairie dogs and other

animals as well can talk … suddenly they see these animals with a new perspective," he said. "They're actually thinking, breathing things not that much different from us.” (CBS News, 2013). –Dr. Con Slobodchikoff

Discussion Question: Why is it important to comprehend the complexities of animal communication and language? How might this change our relationship with animals, both domesticated and wild? Inspire greater conservation efforts to preserve the biosphere? Why or why not?