Humpback whales can learn new songs from other whales

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Geekbabe

Originally posted by: aidanjm

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: aidanjm

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
They are mammals just like us, they just breathe water instead of air.

Let me guess, you went to school in Georgia right?

they don't have gills?

Are you serious?

nah. I know they have to come to the surface to breathe air. They also have blow holes.

So do Republicans ;P

*snicker* *high five*

 

[Infohawk]

Originally posted by: rahvin
So Parrots which are a derivative of Reptiles (in reality avians are the evolved dino's) can learn to speak words, bark, meow and mimic basically any sound they are exposed to does that give them culture? Is it as important as whales being able to learn a song?

Never really said that.

Mimicry isn't culture, many species mimic behavior it's called "Monkey see, Monkey do" for a reason.

Have you ever heard of a meme? Some people think Christianity falls into this category.

 

[aidanjm]

Originally posted by: rahvin

Originally posted by: Infohawk
I remember someone the other day suggesting animals don't really have emotions. I said science shows they do. (Not all of them, but many mammals especially.) The fact that they communicate in this way is also important. Who is it important to? People who don't base their ethics on a flawed book, but on reason.

So Parrots which are a derivative of Reptiles (in reality avians are the evolved dino's) can learn to speak words, bark, meow and mimic basically any sound they are exposed to does that give them culture? Is it as important as whales being able to learn a song?

Mimicry isn't culture, many species mimic behavior it's called "Monkey see, Monkey do" for a reason.

Are parrots able to pass information they have learned to other parrots?

 

[CaptnKirk]

Are parrots able to pass information they have learned to other parrots?

There are some areas where the local birds have began to mimic cell phone rings

or they can place you on hold . . .

Pass information . . . yes . . . comprehend . . . no . . . retain . . . yes

 

[aidanjm]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Are parrots able to pass information they have learned to other parrots?

There are some areas where the local birds have began to mimic cell phone rings

or they can place you on hold . . .

Pass information . . . yes . . . comprehend . . . no . . . retain . . . yes

yeah, but after one parrot has learned to mimic a cell phone, if you introduce that parrot to some new parrots who have never heard cell phones, will the new parrots learn the cell phone ring from the original parrot?

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Furthermore, what's culture? The ability to learn & transmit information about the environment without genetics is pretty much worthless (no offense aidan!), since honeybees can do that, and I really don't think they have culture.

 

[CaptnKirk]

When I lived ib Saint Louis a few years back, sometimes in the morning you could hear bird calls that were including little 'samples' of cell phone rings.
(or in Los Angeles where the birds are hacking and coughing on the wires in the morning)

Always made me wonder if other birds were responding to this modification of the bird's sounds.

Recently the US provided a 'Bird Exclusionary' sound scheme to China to use the sound of predators to supress the bird population in airport areas.
The Chinese birds failed to respond to the sounds - the 'predators' were not indigineous to the region, so the birds did not recognize it as a threat.

 

[conjur]

I keep thinking of that Brian Regan bit about whales.


"They're lone-ly."