Which animal communicates the best

They also make calls that are exclusive to their family, and they even have their own individual names! When we think elections, donkeys, and elephants might come to mind. But it turns out that bison may be the most democratic of animals.

There are a few potential leaders in the group, and they will often commit to a direction, moving beyond the herd. Whoever the majority of the group follows, becomes the leader, and they decide where the herd will graze next. Most of the time, herd leaders are females. The jackdaw looks a lot like a crow or a raven, except for one sharp detail that makes all the difference.

Their electric blue eyes stand out against their dark, black feathers, and for a good reason. Research indicates that the jackdaw is the first bird species to communicate with its eyes. That means that real estate in the jackdaw neighborhood is competitive, so jackdaws use their piercing eyes to stare down and scare away any potential squatters. The blue-capped cordon bleu bobs, dances, and sings to attract a mate. Since these birds are monogamous, they tend to be picky about their mates, meaning their dancing skills have got to be on point.

The blue-capped cordon bleu dances so quickly that its movements are impossible to see with the naked eye. The longer it dances, the healthier it appears to be, and the more likely that it will succeed in attracting a mate. The mantis shrimp is known to pack a killer punch, but it also has the most extraordinary eyes in the animal kingdom — sorry jackdaw. Human eyes generally have three photoreceptors in their retinas, allowing them to detect colors on a range of red, blue and green light.

Mantis shrimp have about 12 to 16 photoreceptors in their eyes. But why? These tiny, big-eyed primates living in Southeast Asia communicate at the opposite range of elephants—ultrasound frequencies over 20, Hertz that are far too high-pitched for the human ear to detect. Scientists recorded them using similar devices as those used to record bats, capturing their vocalizations at 70, Hertz , which is believed to help them communicate over the jungle noise and out of range of predators , making it ideal for avoiding or alerting one another of danger.

By the way, tarsiers are one of the smallest animals in the world. Just as humans use their hands to emphasize a point, ravens do their own kind of gesticulating, using their beaks and wings to show or offer items such as moss, stones or twigs usually aimed at members of the opposite sex.

They also interact by clasping their bills together or moving an item together, as a show of potential bonding. You're probably aware that bats use high-pitched squeals to connect and communicate with each other. But you probably didn't know how specific such communications could get. Researchers at Tel Aviv University used a machine-learning algorithm to recognize bats' intonations and the messages they may be trying to convey, "translating" 15, calls into several specific messages— more than 60 percent were arguments about four specific things: food, sleep positions, invasion of personal space, or unwanted advances.

Chimps love to groom and to be groomed. But just like your spouse or partner loves a backrub…but even more if you focus on that one spot right there, chimps can be particular about where they want to get scratched, using " referential gesturing " to draw the attention of another chimp to the specific area they'd like to have groomed.

Day geckos, native to Madagascar, pioneered the idea of instant-order takeout long before Seamless or even humans came along. But rather than an app on their phones, they simply nod their heads at treehoppers—insects that digest sap an excrete it in a sugary liquid known as honeydew. When the gecko communicates to the treehoppers that it would like some of that honeydew, the insects oblige, excreting it right into the amphibian's mouth.

You're probably familiar with electrically charged sea creatures such as the electric eel, but there is a particular species of electric fish that is able to use its voltage as a means of communicating. Known as "weakly electric fish," these creatures, which, as their name implies, produce a mild electric discharge, use it to "chirp" out information , such as a male stating it's attracted a female. When two of these fish meet, they are known to tweak their wavelengths in order to allow each other to produce similar levels of voltage.

As it turns out, these critters communicate through a kind of head-banging. Spending their lives underground, they can communicate with one another by thumping their heads against the tops of their tunnels, in that way sending vibrations through the earth that travel much farther attempting to make a loud noise would be able to.

The pace and intensity of the thumps indicate different meanings. Rock on. When black-footed titis a brown, rainforest-dwelling monkey , use high-pitched squeaks to let each other known not only what types of predator may be near but their general location.

Researchers have found that the monkeys vary their calls in a number of ways, creating their own syntax and complex communication system. Sometimes, singing to oneself is a way to tell the world you are away in your own world and don't really want to be bothered by all the craziness happening elsewhere hence, singing in the shower.

That's true of silverback gorillas too , which researchers have found will hum or sing while chomping down on their favorite vegetation. It's not just a way to indicate that they are enjoying their meal, but a way to convey that they would prefer not to be bothered while eating.

When they go quiet, that's a sign that they are willing to chat. Dholes, otherwise known as Asiatic wild dogs, are also sometimes called " whistling dogs "—and with good reason. These fox-like animals alert each other about the location of prey through whistle sounds.

This allows them to make coordinated attacks on other animals much larger than them, communicating in packs to take down prey that's more than 10 times their own body weight. Foraging sharks have the ability to detect electrical signals using specialized electroreceptor cells in the head region, which are used for eavesdropping on the weak bioelectric fields of prey von der Emde Some of the most extravagant communication signals play important roles in sexual advertisement and mate attraction.

Successful reproduction requires identifying a mate of the appropriate species and sex, as well as assessing indicators of mate quality. Male satin bowerbirds, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus , use visual signals to attract females by building elaborate bowers decorated with brightly colored objects. When a female approaches the bower, the male produces an elaborate dance, which may or may not end with the female allowing the male to copulate with her Borgia Males that do not produce such visual signals have little chance of securing a mate.

While females are generally the choosy sex due to greater reproductive investment, there are species in which sexual roles are reversed and females produce signals to attract males.

For example, in the deep-snouted pipefish, Syngnathus typhle , females that produce a temporary striped pattern during the mating period are more attractive to males than unornamented females Berglund et al.

Communication signals also play an important role in conflict resolution, including territory defense. When males are competing for access to females, the costs of engaging in physical combat can be very high; hence natural selection has favored the evolution of communication systems that allow males to honestly assess the fighting ability of their opponents without engaging in combat.

Red deer, Cervus elaphus , exhibit such a complex signaling system. During the mating season, males strongly defend a group of females, yet fighting among males is relatively uncommon. Instead, males exchange signals indicative of fighting ability, including roaring and parallel walks.

An altercation between two males most often escalates to a physical fight when individuals are closely matched in size, and the exchange of visual and acoustic signals is insufficient for determining which animal is most likely to win a fight Clutton-Brock et al. Communication signals are often critical for allowing animals to relocate and accurately identify their own young.

In species that produce altricial young, adults regularly leave their offspring at refugia, such as a nest, to forage and gather resources. Upon returning, adults must identify their own offspring, which can be especially difficult in highly colonial species. When females return to the roost, they face the challenge of locating their own pups among thousands of others.

Females are able to make such fantastic discriminations using a combination of spatial memory, acoustic signaling, and chemical signaling. Many animals rely heavily on communication systems to convey information about the environment to conspecifics, especially close relatives. A fantastic illustration comes from vervet monkeys, Chlorocebus pygerythrus , in which adults give alarm calls to warn colony members about the presence of a specific type of predator. This is especially valuable as it conveys the information needed to take appropriate actions given the characteristics of the predator Figure 4.

Such an evasive reaction would not be appropriate if a terrestrial predator, such as a leopard, were approaching. Figure 4 Vervet monkeys. Many animals have sophisticated communication signals for facilitating integration of individuals into a group and maintaining group cohesion.

In group-living species that form dominance hierarchies, communication is critical for maintaining ameliorative relationships between dominants and subordinates.

In turn, dominants produce reconciliatory signals that are indicative of low aggression. Communication systems also are important for coordinating group movements. Contact calls, which inform individuals about the location of groupmates that are not in visual range, are used by a wide variety of birds and mammals.

Overall, studying communication not only gives us insight into the inner worlds of animals, but also allows us to better answer important evolutionary questions. As an example, when two isolated populations exhibit divergence over time in the structure of signals use to attract mates, reproductive isolation can occur.

This means that even if the populations converge again in the future, the distinct differences in critical communication signals may cause individuals to only select mates from their own population. A thorough understanding of animal communication systems can also be critical for making effective decisions about conservation of threatened and endangered species. As an example, recent research has focused on understanding how human-generated noise from cars, trains, etc can impact communication in a variety of animals Rabin et al.

As the field of animal communication continues to expand, we will learn more about information exchange in a wide variety of species and better understand the fantastic variety of signals we see animals produce in nature.

Altricial — the state of being born in an immature state and relying exclusively on parental care for survival during early development. Balcombe, J. Vocal recognition of pups by mother Mexican free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana. Animal Behaviour 39 , Berglund, J. Ornamentation predicts reproductive success in female pipefish.

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 40 , Clutton-Brock, T. The logical stag: Adaptive aspects of fighing in the red deer. Animal Behaviour 27 , Food sharing and reciprocal obligations among chimpanzees. Journal of Human Evolution 18 , — Hauser, M. The Evolution of Communication. Lloyd, J. Aggressive mimicry in Photuris: signal repertoires by femmes fatales.

Science , Marler, P. Characteristics of some animal calls. Nature , Martinez Well, M. The role of courtship songs in reproductive isolation among populations of green lacewings of the genus Chrysoperla. Evolution 46 , McCracken, G.

Communal nursing in Mexican free-tailed bat maternity colonies.