What a hoot -- er-- whistle!
From Newsweek:
Despite a wide range of pseudo-cultural and learning behaviors recently discovered across the animal kingdom, dolphins are one of only two animal species known to name themselves. (The other is the spectacled parrotlet; bats and budgerigars may name their living groups but not necessarily themselves.) Scientists don't know why dolphins choose the call signs they do, although a male may be more likely to compose a whistle that sounds like his mom's. They also don't know why the dolphins seem so self-centered: "They say their names a lot," says researcher Laela Sayigh. This doesn't necessarily mean Bob the Dolphin swims around shouting "Bob!" all day. The whistles vary in intonation, says Sayigh, so they could alternately mean "Bob is sad!" or "Bob found a fish!" The animals also mimic each other's whistles, possibly when they want to get each other's attention. Alternately, they could be engaging in another very human pastime: name-calling.
Despite a wide range of pseudo-cultural and learning behaviors recently discovered across the animal kingdom, dolphins are one of only two animal species known to name themselves. (The other is the spectacled parrotlet; bats and budgerigars may name their living groups but not necessarily themselves.) Scientists don't know why dolphins choose the call signs they do, although a male may be more likely to compose a whistle that sounds like his mom's. They also don't know why the dolphins seem so self-centered: "They say their names a lot," says researcher Laela Sayigh. This doesn't necessarily mean Bob the Dolphin swims around shouting "Bob!" all day. The whistles vary in intonation, says Sayigh, so they could alternately mean "Bob is sad!" or "Bob found a fish!" The animals also mimic each other's whistles, possibly when they want to get each other's attention. Alternately, they could be engaging in another very human pastime: name-calling.