PulpFiction: Animal Communication

Ever wonder how animals communicate among themselves?

Studies have found out that animals mainly make use their sense of smell, sight, hearing and touch to relay and receive information from their own species. They do try to communicate with other species from time to time too.

For most animals, the sense of smell is used as the primary method of communication with one another. They make use of scents to attract mates, mark their own territories, to guard against impeding danger and lastly, to attract preys. Urine is the most common substance that is used. One example would be the urine of a female giraffe allows the male giraffe to determine its fertility, simply by sniffing it. Dung is another substance that animals use to mark their own territories. Such markings serve as a platform of communication for animals belonging to the same species. However, at the same time, these markings alert preys so that they know which areas to avoid. Animals like wolves, and jaguars, for instance, mark their own territory by rubbing themselves against trees.

Visual acts which are physical changes such as facial expressions, body postures, colour and movement, is another way in which animals communicate with one another. A familiar illustration would be the fireflies that light up at night to attract mates. Monkeys often employ the use of facial gestures as an expression of their emotions. Just like how humans show their displeasure, monkeys frown when they are upset. When they raise their eyebrow or flutter their eyelids, it usually means that they are feeling good. Dogs and cats do show threatening postures such as the arching of their backs when they feel something is amiss.

Hearing is also another technique that animals are dependent on to exchange information with one another. For most mammals, the small ones squeak while the large species rumble. This is because “the smaller the animal's head, the higher the frequency of sound it can receive and transmit.” Whales are the largest animals and they have an interesting way of communicating via sound. Whale belonging to the same species amazingly has its own “repertoire of 'songs' which it repeats at intervals”. Smaller species such as the dolphins also have a large variety of sounds which can change rapidly in different situations. When they are hunting for preys, for instance, they make agitated fast-paced sounds. Small mammals like kangaroos and rabbits tend to thump their hind legs on the ground, acting as a warning sign to others.

Last but not least, animals use touch as an approach to contact other animals. Some animals nuzzle against each other to show affection, and it indicates their close relationship with one another. Elephants, for one, interlock their trunks as a sign of affection and care. When a chimpanzee cleans another chimpanzee's body, it actually strengthens their bond between one another and it implies their closeness belonging to the same species.

Animal communication is an amazing aspect of nature, which I believe no matter how scientifically advanced we are, we will never be able to fully comprehend these animals. Even though some people might see animals as a degraded species, one that is inferior to mankind, animals do have a world of their own that we are unable to understand. Their simple acts of communication can be so much more meaningful than some of our own communicative ways. It is really heart-warming to witness animals displaying affections for one another, through simple actions like a pat on the back, finding food for one another and even watching out for each other’s backs in times of danger. Despite their lack of cognitive ability to think like how humans do, I find that we all have something in common: we are able to communicate with each other. Maybe this is why some animals are able to communicate with human beings too, because we all have the innate ability in us to communicate.