Most of us can recognize an animal by its physical appearance, where it lives and by the sounds it makes. It is enough to hear a dog bark, and we immediately recognize what animal it was.
Humans also consider communication as the rock upon which we build our relationships, and thanks to our communication skills, we have managed to further developing our civilization.
Do animals make sounds for the same purposes as humans?
We have already established that communication is what helped us, humans, further develop as a species. But what about other creatures? Animals use sounds for several purposes: to warn others about a potential predator or danger, issue a warning or defend themselves.
Some species do not communicate as much because they perceive that sounds might alert predators of their presence in the area. Besides these survival purposes, animals also make sounds to socialize, just like us.
Animals that vocalize a lot
Although many species vocalize a lot, it is not always for socializing.
As cited in Live Science, Arik Kershenbaum, a zoologist from Cambridge University, believes that some species vocalize almost continuously to let the others know that everything is ok and no potential predators are around.
A cute South African mammal, the meerkat with a cat’s appearance and a carnivore creature, part of the mongoose and civets families, is famous for constantly chatting with its other members.
Animals can also communicate without chatting.
Although creatures such as the meerkat, the quelea, dolphins, elephants and others are vocal learners, there is also a second category of animals, the non-vocal one.
Non-vocal animals communicate using gestures and other patterns to communicate without creating vocal sounds. An example would be chimpanzees.
Researchers have also discovered that animals, which have to worry less about predators, tend to be more vocal and that their chatting is much more complex with diverse sounds.
