Animals

New Study Reveals Language-Like Patterns in Whale Songs

Good News Post

Feb 28, 2025 — 1 min read

Humpback whale – credit Operation Cetaces supplied by St Andrew's University

By Jill Dando News

A groundbreaking study has discovered that humpback whale songs share statistical patterns found in human language, challenging long-held beliefs about the uniqueness of human communication.

Led by Dr. Ellen Garland from the University of St Andrews, the research, published in Science on February 6, used methods from infant language acquisition to analyze eight years of humpback whale song data collected in New Caledonia.

The results reveal recurring patterns in the songs, similar to the statistical structures that underpin human language.

Humpback whale songs, while complex and culturally learned, were not previously thought to have language-like structure. However, the study found that the frequency of certain song elements followed a pattern typically seen in human speech.

This discovery suggests that learning and cultural transmission play a key role in shaping communication, even across vastly different species.

Dr. Garland, along with researchers from the Hebrew University, the University of Edinburgh, and other institutions, used methods typically applied to studying how babies learn language to analyze the whale songs. The results indicate that, like humans, whales may track patterns in sound as they learn their songs.

While whale song lacks the meaning and syntax of human language, the study highlights the deep connection between animal and human communication systems.

The findings suggest that the ability to learn and transmit cultural behaviors is crucial to the evolution of complex communication,” said Dr. Garland.

Experts say the discovery could have wider implications for understanding the evolution of language, with Professor Simon Kirby of the University of Edinburgh noting that it challenges assumptions about human language's uniqueness.

“This research shows that language-like structures might not be exclusive to humans, but could arise in other species with complex social learning,” said Professor Kirby.

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