Dolphins can recognize whistles from old tank mates from over 20 years ago, study finds
Source: Washington Post
Dolphins can recognize whistles from old tank mates from over 20 years ago, study finds
By Meeri Kim, Tuesday, August 6, 7:19 PM
Dolphins have long impressed people with their sharp minds and humanlike traits, such as calling each other by name, goofing off and even understanding numbers. Now a scientist has found that the mammals can recognize an old friend’s whistle, even after they have been apart for 20 years — the longest social memory ever recorded for a non-human.
In a study released Tuesday, dolphins largely ignored calls from other unfamiliar dolphins but responded when an old tank mate’s signature whistle was played back to them. It didn’t matter how much time had passed since the two had last seen each other or whether they had been tank mates for only a few months: The dolphins appeared to remember a familiar whistle.
“The main implications of such findings is that humans are not the only mammals that retain memories of others for long periods,” said SUNY-Buffalo psychologist Eduardo Mercado III, who was not involved in the research.
Prior to the new study, published online in the journal “Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B,” much of what had been known about dolphin memory was anecdotal. This recorded feat of long-term memory puts dolphins in the same field as other highly intelligent creatures, including some monkeys and elephants, both of which have been known to recognize unrelated members of their species after time apart.
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Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/dolphins-can-recognize-calls-from-old-tank-mates-from-over-20-years-ago/2013/08/06/1b1d5ab8-feb3-11e2-bd97-676ec24f1f3f_story.html
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