Animal behaviour: Elephants are capable of vocal learning. Poole, J. H, Tyack, P. L, Stoeger-Horwath, A. S, & Watwood, S. Nature, 434(7032):455-6, 2005.
doi  abstract   bibtex   
There are a few mammalian species that can modify their vocalizations in response to auditory experience–for example, some marine mammals use vocal imitation for reproductive advertisement, as birds sometimes do. Here we describe two examples of vocal imitation by African savannah elephants, Loxodonta africana, a terrestrial mammal that lives in a complex fission-fusion society. Our findings favour a role for vocal imitation that has already been proposed for primates, birds, bats and marine mammals: it is a useful form of acoustic communication that helps to maintain individual-specific bonds within changing social groupings.
@Article{Poole2005,
  author   = {Joyce H Poole and Peter L Tyack and Angela S Stoeger-Horwath and Stephanie Watwood},
  journal  = {Nature},
  title    = {Animal behaviour: {E}lephants are capable of vocal learning.},
  year     = {2005},
  number   = {7032},
  pages    = {455-6},
  volume   = {434},
  abstract = {There are a few mammalian species that can modify their vocalizations
	in response to auditory experience--for example, some marine mammals
	use vocal imitation for reproductive advertisement, as birds sometimes
	do. Here we describe two examples of vocal imitation by African savannah
	elephants, Loxodonta africana, a terrestrial mammal that lives in
	a complex fission-fusion society. Our findings favour a role for
	vocal imitation that has already been proposed for primates, birds,
	bats and marine mammals: it is a useful form of acoustic communication
	that helps to maintain individual-specific bonds within changing
	social groupings.},
  doi      = {10.1038/434455a},
  keywords = {Acoustic Stimulation, Africa, Aging, Animal, Animals, Automobiles, Elephants, Female, Learning, Male, Sound, Vocalization, 15791244},
}

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