An Elephant By Any Other Name

Credit: George Wittemyer

Dolphins have names for each other, as we learned in a previous episode of Hark. So do some parrots, and marmosets.

Just over a year ago, new research was published in Nature, establishing that elephants have names as well. (In the careful parlance of science, the terminology is “individually specific name-like calls.”) George Wittemyer was one of the leaders of that study, and today’s bonus content is an excerpt of an interview I did with him.

You can learn more about elephant names, and George’s research in Northern Kenya, via his lab’s website at Colorado State University and at Save the Elephants.

Thanks to George for the elephant rumbles in this mini-episode, as well as to Marc Anderson for the elephant sounds he shared on Xeno-Canto.

Thanks also to Sam Moore for editing and mixing this piece.

Enjoy!

And as always, thank you for your support.