5 ms·

ELI5: Do animals from different countries understand each other?

54 points by cattlefarmer 8y ago

njsubedi 8y ago
I think animals are divided not by “country” but by significant change in geographical features of a place where they live. Probably a dense forest monkey understands the calls from another monkey from a dense forest but not from a deserted place. It’s only my assumption, as they [have to] learn to make different sounds based on where they live.. probably.
yohann305 8y ago
nice thread but no real definitive answer
sandworm101 8y ago
Studies have shown a universal language between dogs and humans. Dog barks sound the same worldwide. Even humans with no dog experiance understand various barks, suggesting a genetic language basis. I think any wolf would have a similar basic understanding of any other wolf.
- wpasc 8y ago
  Can you link some of those studies? genuinely curious
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    One that got some media attention a few year back: https://drsophiayin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Yin2004Barking.pdf https://drsophiayin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Yin2004Ba... Some less-dense coverage: https://www.star2.com/living/2018/02/27/ev-when-your-dog-barks-do-you-understand-its-message/ https://www.star2.com/living/2018/02/27/ev-when-your-dog-bar... "All the people were pretty good at figuring out what was going on. There were no significant differences between dog owners and non-dog owners. They were particularly good at identifying dog emotion in Stranger Danger, Guard Dog, Alone, and Play." These are interesting studies, but many nevertheless wonder why scientists bother. Most of us understand a common language for terrestrial animals. Lower-pitched sounds come from bigger animals with bigger throats. I've never been growled at by a lion, but I would understand that a deep low growl means it is trying to scare me with its size. This holds true for bears, dogs, cats, deer, even humans. Conversely, high-pitched screams are generally calls for help, mimicking the pitch of the young. Showing your teeth is a near-universal sign of aggression. Put this all together and it is enough to satisfy most definitions of language.
    - occamrazor 8y ago
      > Showing your teeth is a near-universal sign of aggression. Smiling humans are a significant exception to this rule.
      - EugeneOZ 8y ago
        And evil-smile is an exception to that exception.
factorialboy 8y ago
Countries are a human concept.
- bequanna 8y ago
  The question isn't perfectly formed, but I believe we all understand what is being asked.
- TillE 8y ago
  This is obviously true, but borders frequently form along key geographical barriers. In any case the appropriate reference point would be linguistic regions of around 200+ years ago. Radio and television are the biggest problem with a modern comparison, but you'd want to eliminate cars and trains as well.
- dahart 8y ago
  That's what I thought to myself about the headline, before clicking the article. As soon as I clicked, I found that the question asked was in fact intellectually interesting, and was not well summarized by the headline. There are even more interesting answers there. Definitely recommend taking the time to read or at least skim the article, and not react to headlines, because headlines are so often over-simplified and even click-baity. Species of animals do appear to have natural regional differences. And maybe regional differences in humans or human languages affect animals too, who knows? There's a slim chance that animals from different countries might not understand each other because countries are a human concept.
izzydata 8y ago
There are probably nuances that they learn from others in their geographical location. Perhaps similar to various dialects of the same language.
hprotagonist 8y ago
zebra finches have distinct in-group call patterns.
KineticLensman 8y ago
For birds, TL;DR answer is that they can have regional dialects' [0]. The question isn't really whether they 'understand' each other, but whether the differences cause changes in behaviour. Some birds preferentially mate with others that sound most like themselves. Others, because nature is complicated, do the opposite. [0] https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Vocal_Dialects.html https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Voc...
sarreph 8y ago
What about dolphins from other planets? :) (http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Dolphins http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Dolphins)
danielmg 8y ago
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/258393176/make-it-so-sir-patrick-stewart-moos-in-udder-accents https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/258393176...
eternalban 8y ago
The question reminded me of this scene in Bertolucci The Conformist: https://youtu.be/L7rX4WOKZ7g?t=1h9m13s https://youtu.be/L7rX4WOKZ7g?t=1h9m13s
nanomonkey 8y ago
There is definitely evidence that some animals have regional/group dialects. The 52 hertz whale comes to mind. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52-hertz_whale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52-hertz_whale)
- sushid 8y ago
  That whale was just an unfortunate whale that tried to communicate with others on a different wavelength (literally) due to something physically wrong with its pitch.
paulie_a 8y ago
Sort of on topic: supposedly parrots that learn to talk can teach wild parrots to talk, but the wild parrot can't continue the trend. On topic, I have a parrot that can call the dogs name, the dog comes running and the bird throws food at him...then laughs. Sometimes in a British accent. I am not sure where he picked that up.

54 points by cattlefarmer 8y ago

I think animals are divided not by “country” but by significant change in geographical features of a place where they live. Probably a dense forest monkey understands the calls from another monkey from a dense forest but not from a deserted place. It’s only my assumption, as they [have to] learn to make different sounds based on where they live.. probably.

yohann305 8y ago

nice thread but no real definitive answer

sandworm101 8y ago

Studies have shown a universal language between dogs and humans. Dog barks sound the same worldwide. Even humans with no dog experiance understand various barks, suggesting a genetic language basis. I think any wolf would have a similar basic understanding of any other wolf.

wpasc 8y ago
Can you link some of those studies? genuinely curious
- sandworm101 8y ago
  One that got some media attention a few year back: https://drsophiayin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Yin2004Barking.pdf https://drsophiayin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Yin2004Ba... Some less-dense coverage: https://www.star2.com/living/2018/02/27/ev-when-your-dog-barks-do-you-understand-its-message/ https://www.star2.com/living/2018/02/27/ev-when-your-dog-bar... "All the people were pretty good at figuring out what was going on. There were no significant differences between dog owners and non-dog owners. They were particularly good at identifying dog emotion in Stranger Danger, Guard Dog, Alone, and Play." These are interesting studies, but many nevertheless wonder why scientists bother. Most of us understand a common language for terrestrial animals. Lower-pitched sounds come from bigger animals with bigger throats. I've never been growled at by a lion, but I would understand that a deep low growl means it is trying to scare me with its size. This holds true for bears, dogs, cats, deer, even humans. Conversely, high-pitched screams are generally calls for help, mimicking the pitch of the young. Showing your teeth is a near-universal sign of aggression. Put this all together and it is enough to satisfy most definitions of language.
  - occamrazor 8y ago
    > Showing your teeth is a near-universal sign of aggression. Smiling humans are a significant exception to this rule.
    - EugeneOZ 8y ago
      And evil-smile is an exception to that exception.

factorialboy 8y ago

Countries are a human concept.

bequanna 8y ago
The question isn't perfectly formed, but I believe we all understand what is being asked.
TillE 8y ago
This is obviously true, but borders frequently form along key geographical barriers. In any case the appropriate reference point would be linguistic regions of around 200+ years ago. Radio and television are the biggest problem with a modern comparison, but you'd want to eliminate cars and trains as well.
dahart 8y ago
That's what I thought to myself about the headline, before clicking the article. As soon as I clicked, I found that the question asked was in fact intellectually interesting, and was not well summarized by the headline. There are even more interesting answers there. Definitely recommend taking the time to read or at least skim the article, and not react to headlines, because headlines are so often over-simplified and even click-baity. Species of animals do appear to have natural regional differences. And maybe regional differences in humans or human languages affect animals too, who knows? There's a slim chance that animals from different countries might not understand each other because countries are a human concept.

izzydata 8y ago

There are probably nuances that they learn from others in their geographical location. Perhaps similar to various dialects of the same language.

hprotagonist 8y ago

zebra finches have distinct in-group call patterns.

KineticLensman 8y ago

For birds, TL;DR answer is that they can have regional dialects' [0]. The question isn't really whether they 'understand' each other, but whether the differences cause changes in behaviour. Some birds preferentially mate with others that sound most like themselves. Others, because nature is complicated, do the opposite. [0] https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Vocal_Dialects.html https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Voc...

sarreph 8y ago

What about dolphins from other planets? :) (http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Dolphins http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Dolphins)

danielmg 8y ago

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/258393176/make-it-so-sir-patrick-stewart-moos-in-udder-accents https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/12/30/258393176...

eternalban 8y ago

The question reminded me of this scene in Bertolucci The Conformist: https://youtu.be/L7rX4WOKZ7g?t=1h9m13s https://youtu.be/L7rX4WOKZ7g?t=1h9m13s

nanomonkey 8y ago

There is definitely evidence that some animals have regional/group dialects. The 52 hertz whale comes to mind. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52-hertz_whale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52-hertz_whale)

sushid 8y ago
That whale was just an unfortunate whale that tried to communicate with others on a different wavelength (literally) due to something physically wrong with its pitch.

paulie_a 8y ago

Sort of on topic: supposedly parrots that learn to talk can teach wild parrots to talk, but the wild parrot can't continue the trend. On topic, I have a parrot that can call the dogs name, the dog comes running and the bird throws food at him...then laughs. Sometimes in a British accent. I am not sure where he picked that up.