Orderly exchange of communicative signals, which may seem quintessentially human, is actually widespread across the animal kingdom.
ARISTOS GEORGIOU: ‘Language is perhaps the most distinctive of human traits, but its evolution remains a mystery. Our communication is underpinned by turn-taking—or the orderly exchange of communicative signals—which has been found to be largely universal across cultures. But this turn-taking behavior, which may seem quintessentially human, is actually widespread across the animal kingdom, according to a large-scale review of studies… The review… noted many instances of turn-taking in animal communication between species as diverse as African elephants (which communicate with rumbling sounds), naked mole rats (which trade soft chirps) and fireflies (which alternate flashes in courtship rituals)…
While many studies have been conducted into turn-taking behavior in animals, we know remarkably little about it, partly because the literature is so fragmented that large-scale cross-species comparison is all but impossible, according to the researchers. “Overall, direct comparisons of turn-taking skills of nonhuman animals in relation to language origins are highly constrained by lack of data, the application of different terms, methodological designs and study environments,” the authors wrote in the study. In light of this, the researchers proposed a new framework for future studies on turn-taking to make cross-species comparisons easier’. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: