On animal communication

It's a slow Friday and there's not much going on, but I found this article over at the BBC to be interesting.

When two dolphin species come together, they attempt to find a common language, preliminary research suggests.

Bottlenose and Guyana dolphins, two distantly related species, often come together to socialise in waters off the coast of Costa Rica. Both species make unique sounds, but when they gather, they change the way they communicate, and begin using an intermediate language.

That raises the possibility the two species are communicating in some way.

It is not yet clear exactly what is taking place between the two dolphin species, but it is the first evidence that the animals modify their communications in the presence of other species, not just other dolphins of their own kind.

I've always been intrigued by the concept of communication in non-human species--what they say, how they say it--and dolphins are often considered among the more intelligent non-primates. Furthermore, if dolphins of different species are able to communicate with each other, what might that indicate about our ability to communicate with other species?

Just don't blame me if the dolphins come out of the water to take over the world, Simpsons-style. You've been warned.

[BBC]