Do animals have dialects, and how are animal dialects formed?

Humans have a variety of dialects depending on the region they live in. So, do animals have a dialect?

Japanese scientists have discovered that a species of dolphin that lives in the Pacific Ocean is the same species as dolphins living in the Atlantic Ocean, but about half of them speak their own unique languages and do not understand each other.

Scientists in the United States and Canada conducted a computer analysis of the sounds produced by hundreds of Weddell seals on the Antarctic Peninsula and in the McMurdo Strait, and found that the seals on the Antarctic Peninsula use 21 calls to transmit messages, which are low and short. Seals in the McMurdo Strait communicate with 34 calls, which are loud and long-lasting. According to scientists, Weddell seals are very conservative, learning only the innovative language of the same species in the region, and strictly resisting the influence of foreign languages on their own dialects.

The same kind of animals living in different regions, since the day they were born, have been listening to the sounds of animals in their own area, and in the process of growing up in the future, they continue to imitate the sounds they hear, and over time, the animal sounds in this area have formed a certain characteristic, so that the dialect of the animals gradually emerged. This is very similar to the situation in which human dialects are formed.

Humans have developed a variety of dialects due to the different regions where they live. For example, in China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang Beigao District, there are Northern Jiangsu dialect, Ningbo dialect, Suzhou dialect, Wuxi dialect, Shaoxing dialect and so on. So, do animals have a dialect?

As early as the 70s, when the famous American cetacealogist Rogers Payne and his wife were investigating humpback whales, they found that the humpback whale cry living in the Bermuda area of the Atlantic Ocean is different from the humpback whale cry living in the Hawaiian waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Toshiro Kuroki, a Japanese scientist who specializes in dolphin languages, believes that dolphin languages are similar to human languages, with not only Mandarin but also their own dialects. He gave an example of the Kanto dolphins living in the Atlantic Ocean having 17 language types, while the Kanto dolphins living in the Pacific Ocean have 16 language types, and 9 of the languages are common among them, accounting for about half, while the other half of the languages are unique to each other and do not understand each other, which is the dialect of the dolphins.

Not long ago, Janet Thomas of the Habs Seaworld Institute in San Diego, USA, and Lansterling of the Canadian Wildlife Service investigated seals in Antarctica and found that the Weddell seals living in the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula are different from the Weddell seals living in the waters near McMurdo Strait.

Recently, Lance Workman, an ornithologist at the University of Gremogan in Wales, England, used a sound spectrometer to record the chirping of robins in Wales and Sussex, and found that although they are the same bird, the melody and tone of the song sound are different. This shows that not only sea beasts have dialects, but also birds, and the problem is that we have not studied them in the past.

So, how did animal dialects come about? Scientists tell us that the same kind of animals living in different regions, since the day they were born, have been listening to the sounds of animals in their own area, and in the process of growing up, they continue to imitate the sounds they hear, and over time, the animal sounds in this area have formed a certain characteristic, so the animal dialect has gradually emerged. This is very similar to the situation in which human dialects are formed.