Press availability: Researcher discusses groundbreaking elephant study
A study led by Colorado State University discovered that elephants have names for each other like people.
Due to the researchers’ limited availability and high demand for interviews, CSU will host a press availability with lead author Mickey Pardo, who conducted the research as a postdoctoral researcher at CSU, 9 a.m. MDT Friday, June 14.
Please RSVP to Jayme DeLoss at [email protected] to receive a link for the Zoom forum.
What: Wild African elephants address each other with name-like calls, according to a CSU-led study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. Researchers used machine learning to confirm that elephant calls contain a component identifying the intended recipient. They trained a computer model to correctly identify which elephant a call was addressed to based only on its acoustic features.
When the researchers played recorded calls, elephants responded by calling back or approaching the speaker when the calls were addressed to them, showing that they recognized their names.
This video shows an elephant responding to her name: https://youtu.be/MXITyX9PPJM
When: Journalists are invited to attend a Zoom forum 9 a.m. MT Friday, June 14, to ask their questions. The recording will be sent to those in attendance.
Where: Zoom, please RSVP to Jayme DeLoss at [email protected] to receive a link.
Resources:
Photos and videos available upon request.
Shareable three-minute YouTube video explaining study.
The Conversation article by Mickey Pardo, free to republish under Creative Commons license.
Please contact Jayme DeLoss at [email protected] with questions.