New study shows: Dolphins find each other through urine

Scientists have long known that dolphins perceive their fellow humans by whistling, and that in each species they whistle with different frequencies of sound.

Not only that, but recently, scientists have discovered that bottlenose dolphins not only demonstrate the ability to recognize their fellow human beings, but they also reproduce this recognition with another sense: taste. .

Detecting fellows through two senses

The researchers found that dolphins perform this type of identification through urine recognition, while scientists were investigating whether the animals actually called each other's names by whistling.

Dolphins are socially aware species only through taste.

Scientists conducted a study known as a multimodality study, in which an experiment tests whether an animal can recognize an object or another animal through multiple signals received from different animals. different senses.

Scientists have previously used such experiments on a variety of animals, including fish and monkeys. However, communication systems in most animals lack characteristic sounds that can tell if these are all members of the same species, such as the whistle that is characteristic of dolphins. research said.

The study's lead author Jason Bruck, a biologist at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, said dolphins kept in their mouths and collected urine samples from familiar individuals longer than unfamiliar individuals. . This is important because dolphins are the first vertebrates ever shown to be socially aware through taste alone.

Identify fellows by "super sharp" taste

The researchers found that dolphins spend three times more time collecting urine from unfamiliar dolphins than from familiar ones. This suggests that animals can identify known congeners by taste.

To test the persistence of sensory recognition, the researchers paired urine samples with recordings of the characteristic whistling sound played through javelin in the aquatic environment, corresponding to the same the dolphin provided a urine sample or a sample that did not match.

Upon hearing a suitable whistle, dolphins begin to move forward to see if the urine sample matches or not to identify the other. This indicates that the animals recognized consistency in the signals perceived by two senses - taste and hearing.

The findings mean that for dolphins, the whistle and the smell of urine are both ways of identifying dolphins with their fellow humans.

For dolphins, the whistle and the smell of urine are both ways of identifying identity.

Help obese people

Future studies may investigate the mechanism behind this newly discovered dolphin's ability, Bruck said.

The team also suggested that fat was linked to the dolphin's ability to taste urine. With the recognition skills revealed, they think it's possible the dolphins could also extract other information from the urine, such as reproductive status or use pheromones to influence each other's behaviour.

This study also provides another unexpected twist, which has implications for human obesity, the same genes that allow dolphins to identify lipids in urine in humans, where it helps people know when whether they have eaten enough fat. So studying the gene in dolphins could improve understanding of how it works in humans.

This work could also have other implications, helping us realize that human-caused marine pollution such as oil spills or other chemical runoff can interfere with our ability to signal. dolphins, thus causing even more harm than previously thought.