If you could talk to the animals

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user The World in Words If you could talk to the animals

The World in Words April 25, 2018 2:30 PM EDT By Nina Porzucki Player utilities PopoutShare Download File downloadListen to the story. humpback.sandychuck harris2.jpg What does humpback whale song mean? Credit: Sandy/Chuck Harris Do you talk to your dog? Does your dog talk back to you?

Dr. Doolittles dream of talking to the animals is one many of us can share.But what do all of those howls and growls mean and is it really language?

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Each week on The World in Words, Patrick Cox and Nina Porzucki tell stories about languages and the people who speak them. SUBSCRIBE This week on The World in Words podcast,NOVAs Ari Daniel explores the communication of three different species: frogs, whales and monkeys.

If you want to continue to nerd out on animal communication, NOVA goes deep with a new series: Check out NOVA Wonders: What Are Animals Saying?

Podcast Contents:

00:19RIP Ziggy, the beta fish

Male Tngara frogs attract females with a very specific call consisting of a "whine" and a "chuck." Credit: Santiago Ron 02:29Mike Ryan is a herpetologist at the University of Texas at Austin. He studies Tngara frogs in the forests of Panama

03:50How does a female frog mates with a male frog?

05:00Tngara frog calls are made up of whines and chucks

06:00Females are 5 times more likely to be attracted to a whine and a chuck

07:18 Why would male frogs ever just make a whine without a chuck if chucks are so attractive to females?

10:23 An army of frogs!

11:05Ellen Garland is a marine biologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where she studies humpback whale song

11:30Only male humpback whales sing. All the male humpbacks within a population will all sing the same song at the same time

13:00 Humpback whale songs change over time and all of the males within a population will conform to these changes

Diana monkeys have developed very specific calls to warn against their eagle and leopard predators. Credit: David Ellis 13:50Garland analysed whale song in the South Pacific over a period of 11-years and found an interesting pattern of how the songs change

15:36A whale song might travel over 3500 miles from the west to the east

16:03 Are songs originating inthe waters of Australia just more popular?

17:03 Are females a big influence on why animals communicate?

17:45Claudia Stephan is a cognitive biologist at the University of Neuchtel in Switzerland. She studies Diana monkeys in Ivory Coast andSierra Leone

18:58Diana monkeys are very vocal and have very specific alarm calls to warn against their predators eagles and leopards

20:30:Stephan tested whether these are alarm calls are hard wired into the monkeys or if they learn to associate them to predators over time

24:00Are frog whines and chucks and humpback song and monkey calls language? What does this say about human language?

One more thing...

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Tagged: Mike RyanAri DanielDoEllen GarlandClaudia StephanThe World in WordspodcastanimalsNOVAsciencecommunicationDr. Doolittle.

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5 days ago VIMILIC1 Very interesting. Thank you all at 'GBH. #novapbs LikeReplyShare1

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