CSU scientists have called elephants by their names, and the elephants called back 🐘 A groundbreaking study from CSU Warner College , Save the Elephants and ElephantVoices revealed that wild African elephants address each other with name-like calls, a rare ability among nonhuman animals.

When the researchers played recorded calls, elephants responded affirmatively to calls that were addressed to them by calling back or approaching the speaker. Calls meant for other elephants received less of a reaction.

“Dolphins and parrots call one another by ‘name’ by imitating the signature call of the addressee,” said lead author Michael Pardo, who conducted the study as an NSF postdoctoral researcher at CSU and Save the Elephants, a research and conservation organization based in Kenya.

"By contrast, our data suggest that elephants do not rely on imitation of the receiver’s calls to address one another, which is more similar to the way in which human names work,” said Pardo. Learn more about this new study:

@WarnerCollege @ste_kenya @elephantvoices Reminds me of whales calling one another.

@WarnerCollege @ste_kenya @elephantvoices Once again, science shows us that it's time to ditch our human-centric perspective. 🌍🔬 #Science #Nature #PerspectiveShift