AI reveals elephants call each other by names and discovers a 'phonetic alphabet' in whale clicks

anselm · x · 2026-08-22

AI is uncovering a hidden world of animal communication with several startling findings:

• Elephant Names: AI found evidence that elephants use name-like calls for each other. When played a specific call, an elephant approached faster and responded back, revealing a form of personal naming once thought almost uniquely human.
• Monkey Dialects: Analysis of 53,993 marmoset calls suggests these tiny monkeys may also use names, with entire families using similar labels for the same individual, indicating they learn names and dialects from one another.
• Bat Arguments: AI learned to identify what Egyptian fruit bats are arguing about—food, mating, sleeping spots, or personal space—and could even partially identify who was shouting at whom within a colony of thousands.
• Whale Phonetic Alphabet: AI discovered a "phonetic alphabet" in sperm whale clicks, where rhythm, tempo, and tiny timing changes combine into at least 143 recurring patterns.

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