Baby talk is a cultural universal among humans. Speaking to infants in high pitches, soft tones, and almost unintelligible words are common to societies around the world, according to a study by researchers from Harvard’s Music Lab. There are several theories for why talking to babies in such a manner is a commonality among humans. Baby talk might accentuate vowels and help babies learn speech, or it could help socialize them by controlling their emotions during interactions with adults.
But could this human universal extend to other species? As it turns out, bottlenose dolphins may also have this trait. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts have studied recordings of wild bottlenose dolphin speech and have concluded that dolphins speak differently when they are with their calves.
When they were nearby their offspring, the dolphins’ whistles rose in frequency compared to when they were with other adults. The calves then copied the higher-frequency whistles that they heard from the adults around them. This is similar to how human babies imitate the baby talk spoken to them by adults.
Although the researchers can’t state the purpose of the different pitches of whistles in dolphins, it is possible that the vocalizations serve the same purpose as baby talk does in humans.
Dolphins are highly intelligent and social animals, with a brain size to body ratio that is close to that of humans. They can solve problems, plan for the future, and have a complex communication system with other members of their pod. They also pass the mirror test, demonstrating their self-awareness.
Dolphins also have significant long-term memory and use tools, more indicators that their cognitive capabilities are not radically different from humans’.
Finally, these animals have distinct personalities, and the fact that they push dead pod members’ bodies for days suggests that they feel the advanced emotion of grief. The latest study from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is another interesting demonstration of the striking parallels between humans and their distant aquatic mammalian cousins.
Green Humanist 