H2020Индивидуална стипендия2015–2017

CURAS · Cetacean Use of Representational Acoustic Signals

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2015-08-25 → 2017-08-24
Финансиране от ЕС: 195 455 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Делфините и техните начини за разпознаване на другите, като например използването на специфични звукови сигнали или вкусът на урината, са в центъра на анализа. Това помага да се разбере дали животните притежават абстрактно мислене и способност да назовават други индивиди.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Cetacean Use of Representational Acoustic Signals

This project involved two studies. Study 1: Dolphins use sound to identify each other through signature whistles, alleviating problems identifying individuals in opaque environments. Dolphins' use of signature whistles is different from many other mammals, which identify individuals using odour cues from bodily fluids. Social recognition by smell is possible in many mammals because individualized gene complexes are transcribed into odor molecules creating a ‘smell fingerprint’. It was previously assumed that chemical communication plays a diminished role with dolphins because they lack olfactory (smell) genes or an olfactory bulb. Yet wild dolphins often engage in oral sampling of their social partner’s excreta. Could the loss of smell have led to an increase in taste perception for dolphins? If so, what kind of social information is present in dolphin urine? How do taste signals work in communication despite the absence of smell perception? Study 2: We examined representational signal use in dolphins. Names for individuals are a universal feature of human language as referential labels that not only identify everything the person hearing the social signal associates with the name-bearer, but identify all aspects tied to identity including appearance, voice, style of dress, smell, shared history, reputation, etc. Naming is an important aspect of sociality, human language & cognition allowing individuals to think abstractly making our representations more efficient by tying physical & mental traits behind a name. The ability to refer to other individuals without their presence offers evidence of complex cognition & could open up the possibility of studying abstraction in non-human animals. Studying potential ‘names’ in non-human animals can also give new perspective in areas related to the potential of language-like communication outside our species. Therefore, the specific aim of this study was to determine if identity can be recognized independent of the type of sensory system used, suggesting representation of an individual in the dolphin’s mind across two communication channels. This important research can further understanding not only of dolphin communication & cognition but also of evolution of cognition & language in general, including that of humans. Secondly, it can help explain the evolution of taste & smell in mammals. Thirdly, the results might have implications for human taste perception which is still poorly understood & tied directly to obesity. Finally, the results could impact European policy on marine noise or release of chemicals that could mask dolphin taste perception. Objectives 1) provide evidence for dolphin chemosensory (taste) recognition 2) use chemical & acoustic playbacks to study representational signaling in dolphins. CURAS achieved these objectives & increased the knowledge base on dolphin communication & cognition.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

This project will determine if dolphins possess representational understanding of individual-specific signature whistles (SW). Dolphin SWs are a created and learned social signal and are thought to function similar to human names. We will examine parallels between dolphin use of SW and human use of acoustic labels which will give us an understanding of representational signalling systems outside of human communication. Research from the host organization has demonstrated that dolphins use innovated and learned contours to address specific individuals, and research conducted by the fellowship applicant has shown that dolphins maintain the memory of these contours for over 20 years. The next step for both programs is to determine if SWs are representational (i.e. do the SWs elicit a mental image of the caller in the minds of the receiver). Establishing this would show that SWs do function similarly to human names and that long-term memory for these whistles is tantamount to long-term memory for social partners. Furthermore, demonstrating a representational relationship between a signaller and signal in SWs would provide a true understanding of mental representations elicited by signals in a non-humans animal species, something that is extremely difficult to demonstrate in animal communication. To do this, we will first assess the dolphins’ ability to identify conspecifics by gustatory recognition of excreta. Then, using the practice of cross-modal playbacks of sound and chemical cues, we will look for response differences between matches and mismatches of individual identity coded through the two modalities.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS · ST ANDREWSКоординаторОбединеното кралство