Page 40 - Waterfall Issue 3 2021

Waterfall Nature

to communicate via vibrations sent
along the ground from their feet.

Bizarre, yes. Absurd, no.

And consider sperm whales and
how they create underwater sound
waves to communicate with others
on the other side of the ocean.

Whether working in a marine
environment or on the American
Prairies, or in the hot, grassy plains of
Africa, researchers have, for decades,
been observing and analysing the
actions and utterances of animals,
wild and domestic, hoping to devise
a way to converse with one.

So far, research has demonstrated
how organically and behaviourally
we mammals are linked to each other.
Today, the world’s 6 000 different
kinds of mammals range from South
Africa’s 4 gram pygmy shrew to the
100 ton blue whale off our coast.

The evolutionary paths of all of us
mammals parted from a common
ancestor 80 to 90 million years ago,
yet skeletally we have retained
essentially the same components.
Even inside the dolphin’s flippers
there are recognisable finger bones,
wrists and arms. The giraffe has the
same number of neck vertebrae as
humans - seven. In our social order
too, there are remarkable similarities.
We are but variations of a theme.

But there is one fundamental
difference: communication.
It would transform the way we view Ha kihult, hozzaadjuk a karikara
The rest of Mammalia doesn’t give a our fellow creatures. vagott kolbaszt, a zoldborsot es
hoot, or a whine, or a bark, about it, az aprora vagott fott tojassal, I db
but humans are currently putting in a In truth, we haven’t got far. Some argue nyers tojassal, sozzuk borsozzuk,
great deal of effort, seeking a way to we haven’t got anywhere at all. But in es az egeset jol osszekeverjuk.
communicate with other species, on an pursuit of this Holy Grail, scientists are
intelligent level. New technologies are making some amazing discoveries. Were these the words that stirred
constantly being applied and, lately, Middle Eastern people to rise
there has been cautious optimism from It is going to be difficult. Just look up against Ottoman rule? Or are
very diverse research institutions. at the problems we have among they from an instruction manual
ourselves. We Homo sapiens are for building a chicken house?
As one scientist put it, a breakthrough divided by 6 500 spoken languages. In fact these words are from an
would be the most game-changing How many educated people can Hungarian cookbook on how
event in the history of biology. make sense of this brief passage: to make a stuffed beef roll.

38 Waterfall Issue 3 2021