Communication between animals of different species. Animal communication Means of information transmission in animals

Animal communication, biocommunication - connections between individuals of the same or different species, established by receiving the signals they produce. These signals (specific - chemical, mechanical, optical, acoustic, electrical, etc., or non-specific - associated with breathing, movement, nutrition, etc.) are perceived by the corresponding receptors: organs of vision, hearing, smell, taste, skin sensitivity, organs lateral line (in fish), thermo- and electroreceptors. The production (generation) of signals and their reception (reception) form communication channels (acoustic, chemical, etc.) between organisms for transmitting information of a different physical or chemical nature. Information coming through various communication channels is processed in different parts of the nervous system, and then compared (integrated) in its higher departments, where the body's response is formed. The communication of animals facilitates the search for food and favorable living conditions, protection from enemies and harmful influences. Without the communication of animals, it is impossible to meet individuals of different sexes, the interaction of parents and offspring, the formation of groups (packs, herds, swarms, colonies, etc.) and the regulation of relations between individuals within them (territorial relations, hierarchy, etc.).2

The role of one or another communication channel in animal communication in different species is not the same and is determined by the ecology and morpho-physiology of the species that have developed in the course of evolution, and also depends on changing environmental conditions, biological rhythms, etc. As a rule, animal communication is carried out using several communication channels. The most ancient and widespread communication channel is chemical. Some metabolic products released by an individual into the external environment can affect the "chemical" sense organs - smell and taste, and serve as regulators of the growth, development and reproduction of organisms, as well as signals that cause certain behavioral reactions of other individuals. Thus, the pheromones of males of some fish accelerate the maturation of females, synchronizing the reproduction of the population. Odorous substances released into the air or water, left on the ground or objects, mark the territory occupied by the animal, facilitate orientation and strengthen ties between the members of the group (families, herds, swarms, flocks ). Fishes, amphibians, mammals well distinguish the smells of their own and other species, and common group smells allow animals to distinguish "their" from "strangers".

In the communication of aquatic animals, an important perception plays a role organs of the lateral line of local water movements. This type of distant mechanoreception allows you to detect an enemy or prey, maintain order in the flock. Tactile forms of animal communication (for example, mutual cleaning of plumage or fur) are important for regulating intraspecific relationships in some birds and mammals. Females and subordinate individuals usually they clean dominant individuals (mainly adult males). In a number of electric fish, lampreys and hagfish, the electric field they create serves to mark the territory, helps with close orientation and search for food. In "non-electric" fish in a flock, a common electric field is formed, which coordinates the behavior of individual individuals. The visual communication of animals, associated with the development of photosensitivity and vision, is usually accompanied by the formation of structures that acquire a signal value (color and color pattern, the contours of the body or its parts) and the emergence of ritual movements and facial expressions. This is how the process of ritualization takes place - the formation of discrete signals, each of which is associated with a specific situation and has a certain conditional meaning (threat, submission, appeasement, etc.), which reduces the danger of intraspecific collisions. Having found melliferous plants, bees are able, with the help of a "dance", to convey to other gatherers information about the location of the found food and the distance to it (works by the German physiologist K. Frisch). 3 For many species, complete catalogs of their "language of postures, gestures and facial expressions" have been compiled - so-called. ethograms. These demonstrations are often characterized by masking or exaggeration of certain features of color and shape. visual communication animals plays a particularly important role in the inhabitants of open landscapes (steppes, deserts, tundra); its value is much less in aquatic animals and inhabitants of thickets.

acoustic communication most developed in arthropods and vertebrates. Its role as an effective method of remote signaling increases in the aquatic environment and in closed landscapes (forests, thickets). The development of animal sound communication depends on the state of other communication channels. In birds, for example, high acoustic abilities are characteristic mainly of modestly colored species, while bright colors and complex display behavior are usually combined with a low level of vocal communication. The differentiation of complex sound-reproducing formations in many insects, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals allows them to produce dozens of different sounds. The "lexicon" of songbirds includes up to 30 basic signals that combine with each other, which dramatically increases the efficiency of biocommunication. The complex structure of many signals makes it possible to recognize a mating and group partner personally. In a number of bird species, sound contact between parents and chicks is established when the chicks are still in the egg. Comparison of the variability of some characteristics of optical signaling in crabs and ducks and acoustic signaling in songbirds indicates a significant similarity of different types of signaling. Apparently, the capacities of optical and acoustic channels are comparable to each other.

Apparently, the communication systems used by living beings are almost universal. For reproduction, many plants attract the attention of pollinating animals (especially insects) with bright colors and pleasant smells. When reproduction has already taken place, plants turn to animals, which distribute their seeds. To get their attention, the plants offer colorful edible fruits that the animals eat. The seeds then pass through their digestive system.

If we define the act of communication as the transmission and receipt of information, then we can only talk about this phenomenon in relation to the animal kingdom, since plants do not have a nervous system and their communicative perception can be called limited at best. Communication systems in animals involve modality in every respect. The oldest systems include chemical perception, such as the sense of smell. Single-celled organisms such as bacteria have been shown to respond to chemical traces left by other bacteria of the same species. The sense of smell plays a key role in courtship and mating in many species that use pheromones. Pheromones are chemical signals released by animals to attract a female or male and notify them that they are ready to breed. Olfactory cues also play a key role in marking territory, which dog owners can easily confirm. The dog, by urinating on various objects, leaves signs indicating that this territory belongs to him, and warning other dogs that they should stay away.

In the 1950s, ethologist Carl von Frisch discovered what has been erroneously identified as "bee language" (von Frisch, 1971). After conducting a series of complex experiments, von Frisch found that bees looking for nectar transmit information to their swarm about the location of new sources of nectar using the so-called "waddle dance" - moving "eight" along the vertical surface of the honeycombs.

At the same time, the intensity of the swaying indicates the richness of the new source of nectar, and the inclination of the "eight" in relation to the perpendicular indicates the location of this source relative to the sun. However, despite the complexity of this method, what the bees do cannot be compared with real language. In this case, the information transmitted during the communicative act is extremely limited. Moreover, the use of such symbols is not arbitrary and, apparently, is genetically fixed in the nervous system of bees. Thus, it can be said that bees use a communication system; the given type of behavior cannot be called a language in the full sense of the word.

Information about complex, highly significant behaviors, such as courtship or home defense reflexes, is communicated in a variety of ways. Birds sing to mark the boundaries of their territory and attract a mate. This does not mean that they deliberately use this type of behavior to achieve their goals. Singing is made up of certain signals, some of which are physiological, and its adaptive function is to mark the boundaries of the territory and attract partners. Birds also use visual cues, such as puffing, to convey the same information. So, red-winged thrushes mark the boundaries of the territory with the help of bunches of red feathers on the wings. If these bunches are blackened, the bird quickly loses all its grounds. As far as dogs are concerned, visual cues are important in conveying information about the different moods they are in. A dog that steps on another with its hair up and without bending its forelegs shows an aggressive stance.

A dog bowing to a partner, bending its paws, on the contrary, takes an inviting position - it demonstrates obedience and readiness to take part in the game. Grunts and growls in dogs and other mammals almost always signal aggression and warning.

Darwin (Darwin, 1872) realized that the facial expression of a person comes directly from these earlier signals of aggression or appeasement. Even today, facial expressions serve as the main source of non-verbal information for us humans. When we doubt the veracity of what we are being told, we usually seek to see the facial expressions and eyes of the interlocutor in order to confirm the correctness of the information we have received verbally.

Communication systems used by non-humans, but closest to human speech, are systems with vocal communication. Let us repeat once again that we can speak about auditory forms of communication only in relation to the animal kingdom. The study of primates, our closest relatives, provides a wealth of information about the evolutionary pattern of language as it develops. African gray monkeys have been found to produce different vocalizations when encountering different predator species (Cheney & Seyfarth, 1990). If an animal spots a leopard, it makes a special call - biologists who study these monkeys called the "leopard call" - that serves as a signal for all other monkeys to run towards the trees. If the “exclamation of an eagle” sounds, the reaction will be exactly the opposite - the monkeys will emerge from the crown of the tree and cling to the ground. If the monkeys hear the “snake call”, they will rise on their hind legs and stare intently at the grass. Experiments with sound recordings also prove that monkeys can distinguish sounds made by individual individuals. They respond differently to tape-recorded sound signals emitted by animals in a subordinate or dominant position. For example, if a monkey in a subordinate position screams, its cry is more likely to be ignored, in contrast to the same cry issued by an animal in a dominant position. Sound cues have been found to play a subtle but significant role in the social interactions of many other primate species. The assumption that these animals possessed the rudimentary language abilities has led to serious attempts to teach language skills to primates.

The study of the origin of the human language is impossible without studying the communication systems of animals - otherwise we will not be able to single out either the new that a person has in comparison with animals, or those properties that are useful for the development of the language that already existed by the beginning of its evolution. Failure to take into account factors of this kind weakens the hypotheses put forward. For example, T. Deacon assigns a key role in the origin of the language to the use of signs-symbols (his book is called “The symbolic species”, “Symbolic view” 1 ) - but since many animals also show the ability to use them (and, as we will see below, not only under experimental conditions), the use of symbols is not suitable for the role of the main driving force of glottogenesis.

However, the study of animal communication is needed not only to reject such hypotheses. The current state of science allows us to pose deeper questions: what correlates the presence of certain characteristics in a communicative system? What are the directions of evolution of communication systems and how can they be determined?

First of all, it is necessary to understand that the word “animals” hides a huge number of very different creatures, some of which are close to humans to such an extent that it makes sense to raise the question of those properties necessary for communication that their common ancestor possessed, while others are so far away. that common ancestors certainly could not have any properties relevant to communication. Thus, it is necessary to distinguish between “homologies” and “analogies” - the first term refers to properties that developed from the common heritage inherited from a common ancestor, the second - characteristics that, being outwardly similar, developed independently in the course of evolution. For example, the presence of two pairs of limbs in a person and a crocodile is homology, and the streamlined shape of the body in fish, dolphins and ichthyosaurs is of a similar nature.

Rice. 4.1. Comparison of language with communication systems of other types according to Ch. Hockett's criteria 2 .

When, according to the criteria proposed by C. Hockett, a comparison was made of the language with the communication systems of several different animal species (stickleback, herring gull, bees and gibbon), it turned out that the communication system of the honey bee was gaining the most common features with the language ( Apis mellifera). The waggling dance of bees has properties such as productivity and mobility; it is a specialized communicative action; those who can produce signals of this type can also understand them (the latter is called the “fungibility property”). To some extent, even the arbitrariness of the sign can be seen in the dance of the bees: the same element of wagging dance in the German bee indicates a distance of 75 meters to the source of food, in the Italian - 25 meters, and in the bee from Egypt - only five 3 . Accordingly, this communicative system is (at least partially) learnable - as the experiments of Nina Georgievna Lopatina showed. 4 , a bee grown in isolation and not having the opportunity to observe the dances of adults does not understand the meaning of the dance, cannot “read” the transmitted information from it. From a formal point of view, elementary components can be distinguished in bee dances (see below), various combinations of which make up different meanings (just as in human language different combinations of phonemes give different words) 5 .

Certain analogies can be seen between human language and the communication systems of some ant species. As the experiments of Zh.I. Reznikova (see photo 16 on the insert), carried out with carpenter ants Camponotus herculeanus, their signaling has the property of productivity and the property of mobility: ants are able to inform their relatives about the different locations of food. At the same time, they can compress information: a path like “right all the time” is described shorter than a path like “left, then right, right again, then left, then right.” Information about the same, well-known place is transmitted faster than about another. Although the communication system of ants cannot be directly deciphered, this analogy shows that such properties seem to inevitably arise in a communication system that must ensure the transmission of a large amount of various information.

As Zh.I. Reznikov, the use of different types of information transmission by different types of ants is connected with their way of life and the tasks that they have to solve. For those species whose family size is no more than a few hundred individuals, a developed sign system is not needed: the required amount of food can be collected at a distance of two or three meters from the nest, “and at such a distance, the odorous trace also works perfectly” 6 . On the contrary, those species that live in huge families and gather food, moving away from the nest for a considerable distance, have communication systems that have rich expressive possibilities.

For sounding speech, formant differences are of great importance - first of all, it is by them (and not, say, by loudness, duration or pitch of the fundamental tone) that we distinguish different phonemes from each other. But the ability to use formant differences is also present in animals. As T. Fitch testifies, species that use sound communication - for example, green monkeys (vervet monkeys), Japanese macaques, cranes - are able to distinguish formants no worse than humans 7 . Even frogs have special detectors tuned to those frequencies that are especially important for each particular species. Formant differences can be used, in particular, to distinguish relatives from each other. 8 , to recognize different types of danger signals, etc.

Many analogues in the animal world have the human ability to recurse. The simplest (at least from a human point of view) thought process that requires the use of recursion is counting: each subsequent number is one more than the previous one. But, as studies have shown, not only people can count. 9 , but also chimpanzees (in particular, special experiments conducted in Kyoto under the direction of Tetsuro Matsuzawa are devoted to this 10 ), parrots 11 , crows 12 and ants 13 . In the experiments of Z.A. Zorina and A.A. Smirnova showed that gray crows can add numbers within 4 (and even operate with ordinary “Arabic” numerals), ants in the experiments of Zh.I. Reznikova demonstrated the ability to “add and subtract within 5” 14 . Rhesus monkeys (in the experiments of American researchers Elizabeth Brennon and Herbert Terrace) “counted” (sequentially touching the images of groups with different numbers of objects on the screen) in ascending and descending order from 1 to 4 and from 5 to 9 15 .

The most developed analogy is between human language and the song of songbirds (this is one of the suborders of the passerine order). The song is divided into syllables - separate spectral events that have a more sonorous top and less sonorous edges. Each individual syllable, like a phoneme, does not have its own meaning, but their sequence adds up to a song that carries a certain meaning. For song recognition, it is essential that the syllables go in a certain order - otherwise representatives of the corresponding species will not recognize the song as their own. 16 .

Like a language, a song is learned during a sensitive period, i.e., the cultural component is of great importance in its transmission. In the sensitive period there is a stage of "babbling" (or "songs", eng. subsong) - a grown-up fledgling makes a variety of sounds, as if trying various possibilities of the vocal apparatus 17 . Publishes, unlike adult males, quietly, as they say, “under his breath”. For the normal development of the vocal repertoire, he needs to hear both himself and adult representatives of his species. Learning occurs through onomatopoeia, and this imitation is self-sustaining - like children who master the language, chicks do not need special encouragement for the learned elements of the communication system. As a result of such learning, dialects (local versions of the song) and idiolects (individual versions of the song, which are also called “dialects” in the works of ornithologists, which creates some confusion), are formed as a result of such learning. Birds have a lateralization of the brain, and sound production is normally controlled by the left hemisphere.

Rice. 4.2. Sonogram of a finch song (Fringilla coelebs).

In songbirds, as well as in parrots and hummingbirds, which also learn their auditory communication signals through auditory imitation, sound production is controlled by different brain structures than those in species in which auditory signals are innate. 18 . Damage to similar parts of the brain leads to similar disturbances in sound production: in some birds, like people with Broca's aphasia, they lose the ability to correctly compose sequences of sounds, in others they lose the ability to learn new sounds, in others they retain only the ability to echolally repeat 19 .

There are many similar features in the language and communication of cetaceans. In both cases, the carrier of information is sound (however, in cetaceans, unlike humans, most of the signals are transmitted in the ultrasonic range). Dolphins have “proper names” - the famous “signature whistle”: with this signal (individual for each individual), dolphins complete their messages, and with it they can be called. killer whales Orcinus orca local dialects were discovered 20 . As in human languages, some “words” (sound signals) are more stable in killer whales, others change relatively quickly (in killer whales - for about 10 years) 21 .

Sound signals of bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus), according to the observations of V.I. Markova 22 are combined into complexes of several levels of complexity. A complex consisting of several sounds grouped in a certain way can be an integral part of a complex of a higher level, just as a word consisting of several phonemes is an integral part of a more complex complex - a sentence. Just as a phoneme can be described as a set of semantic distinguishing features, separate components can be distinguished in the sound signals of dolphins that oppose one sound to another.

Most likely, such a complex structure of signals suggests that dolphins (like humans) have the ability (and therefore, probably, the need) to encode a large (according to Markov’s calculations, potentially even an infinitely large) amount of various information.

Apparently, the communicative system of dolphins allows them to transmit, among other things, very specific information. In an experiment conducted by William Evans and Jarvis Bastian 23 , two dolphins (male Buzz and female Doris) were trained to pedal in a specific order to receive food rewards. The order changed depending on whether the light above the pool was on steadily or blinking, and reinforcement was given only when both dolphins pressed the pedals in the correct order. When the light bulb was placed so that only Doris could see it, she was able to "explain" to Buzz through the opaque pool wall in which order to press the pedals - 90% of the time correctly.

Rice. 4.3. Scheme of the experience of V. Evans and J. Bastian 2

In the experiments of V.I. Markov and his colleagues, the dolphins communicated to each other information about the size of the ball (large or small) and which side the experimenter presents it from (right or left). 25 .

As David and Melba Caldwell have shown, dolphins, like humans, are able to identify their brethren by their voice - no matter what they say (or, in the case of dolphins, whistle) 26 . Both in cetaceans and in songbirds, as in humans, vocalization is arbitrary. It is independent of the limbic system (subcortical structures), does not indicate emotional arousal and is carried out by skeletal muscles. 27 . At the same time, the organs of sound production are completely different: in humans, this is primarily the larynx with vocal cords, in dolphins and whales - nasal sacs, in birds - the syrinx (otherwise the “lower larynx”, located not at the beginning of the trachea, like the larynx of mammals, but in that the place where the bronchi branch off from the trachea; the evolutionary origin of the syrinx and the larynx of mammals is different).

Rice. 4.4. The brain of a dolphin, human, orangutan and dog.

Cetaceans, like songbirds, have brain lateralization. But if in cetaceans, like in humans, the cerebral cortex (neocortex) is asymmetrically arranged, then in birds this property is realized on the basis of structures that are homologous to the new cortex, but still not identical to it - nidopallium and hyperpallium (they were previously called neostriatum and hyperstriatum respectively) 28 .

However, the asymmetry of brain structures is found in a wide variety of animals, including eels, newts, frogs and sharks. 29 .

For both cetaceans and songbirds, onomatopoeia is extremely important. Thus, dolphins borrow their signature whistle from other dolphins of the same group. However, the ability to imitate onomatopoeia was discovered in a number of species that use sound communication - it is present not only in songbirds and cetaceans, but also in bats, seals 30 , elephants 31 and possibly even in mice. The ability to learn the sound elements of communication seems to be characteristic primarily of those species in which sound is used to maintain social structure.

All of these (and others that are sure to be discovered) similarities in the communication systems of songbirds, cetaceans, and humans can be seen to have been acquired independently. Since these similarities span a range of properties, their emergence during evolution was probably a positive feedback process, and the answer to the question of what is cause and what is effect is far from obvious. In particular, according to T. Deacon, the asymmetry inherent in the human brain is more a consequence than a cause of the emergence of language 32 .

The study of animal communication allows us to solve the most incomprehensible “mystery of language” for some researchers - why it is possible at all. Indeed, an individual that performs communicative actions spends its time and effort, becomes more visible to predators - for what? Why share information with others instead of using it yourself 33 ? Why not deceive the relatives to get your own benefit 34 ? Why use information from others, and not your own feelings 35 ? Or, perhaps, it is more profitable to collect information based on the signals of other individuals, and “keep silent” yourself (thus not paying a high price for signal production)? Such reasoning leads, for example, to the idea that language evolved to manipulate kin (see more below, ch. 5). Or, perhaps, the emergence of language is not related to information exchange at all? Perhaps language emerged solely as a tool of thought, as Noam Chomsky suggests, or even as a game altogether, as anthropologist Chris Knight suggests. 36 ?

Indeed, if we analyze the action of natural selection at the individual, and not at the group level, then the advantages of a communicative system (any - not just a language) cannot be found. And this leads some researchers to conclude that natural selection played no role in the process of glottogenesis. 37 , and the emergence of language may in principle not be associated with the acquisition of any adaptive advantages, but simply a side effect of the development of some other properties, for example, bipedalism (see Chapter 3) 38 .

But in fact, all the questions listed above can be attributed not only to human language - they are relevant for any communication system. And only a person who is not experienced in ethology can ask them. Indeed, any communication is a costly business: the animal expends energy to produce a signal, spends time (which could be used for something that brings direct biological benefits, such as nutrition or hygiene procedures), during the production and perception of a signal less attentively watches everything else, risking being eaten (a classic example is a current capercaillie, see photo 19 on the insert). In addition, energy is spent on maintaining the brain structures necessary for the perception of signals, and the anatomical structures necessary for their production. However, the “altruistic” behavior of communicating individuals, who go to certain expenses in order to (willingly or unwittingly) convey information to their relatives, ultimately leads to an overall increase in the number of “altruists” - even if they lose the competitive struggle within their population to more “selfish” ones. relatives, because populations in which there are many altruists increase their numbers much more efficiently than populations with a predominance of “egoists”. This statistical paradox, known as "Simpson's Paradox", has been recently modeled on bacteria. 39 , among which there are also individuals that are distinguished by "altruistic" behavior, i.e., producing - with an increase in their own costs - substances that promote the growth of all surrounding bacteria. The stronger the competition between groups, the higher is the level of altruism and cooperation within individual groups. 40 .

A communication system - any - arises, develops and exists not for the benefit of the individual giving the signal, and not for the benefit of the individual receiving it; its purpose is not even the organization of relations in couple"speaking" - "hearing". The communicative system is “a specialized control mechanism in the system of the population as a whole” 41 .

Individuals of the same species inevitably turn out to be competitors to each other, since they claim the same resources (food, shelter, sexual partners, etc.). However, when choosing a habitat, animals prefer to settle in the neighborhood with representatives of their own species. The neighborhood may be close (as, for example, in group mammals or colonial birds) or not very close (for example, the individual ranges of tigers or bears extend for many kilometers), but even bears do not tend to settle where no other bears are nearby at all. And it is clear why: if an individual appeared whose genes would contain the desire to settle as far as possible from relatives (and thereby get rid of competitors), it would be extremely difficult for her to find a mate and pass these genes on to offspring. As recent studies have shown 42 , birds choose nesting sites near the sites of relatives, but tend to settle away from representatives of species occupying a similar ecological niche. This means that the competition for resources between representatives of the same species and different species is arranged differently: if it is better to avoid or expel strangers, then you can “agree” with your own - with the help of communicative interactions, distribute resources so that these resources (albeit of different quality) in the end it was enough for everyone.

The communication system allows each individual to find its place. For example, an individual that has received a high rank as a result of communicative interactions can feed on something that gives a lot of energy, but requires a lot of time. s x the cost of getting ready to forage in the most specialized and efficient way, she "knows" she won't be disturbed too often. A low-ranking individual, on the other hand, will choose a food-procuring strategy that does not promise great energy benefits, but on the other hand, allows for frequent distractions. And this gives a significant gain, since an attempt to obtain highly nutritious, but time-consuming food would turn into a real tragedy for a low-ranking individual: among her neighbors there are too many hunters to “assert themselves at her expense” (i.e., increase their rank due to a communicative victory over her ), and she simply would not have had time to implement such a feeding strategy. Thus, communication significantly reduces competition for resources and allows more members of the same species to survive. In a similar way, communication distributes individuals in other aspects important for the life of the species, for example, during sexual reproduction. Thus, a high-ranking deer wins a whole harem of females and gets the opportunity to pass on its genes to a large number of descendants. And low-ranking deer, which do not have their own harem, get access to the opposite sex in a different way: slowly, until the owner of the harem sees, they mate with his females and thereby also ensure a certain reproductive success for themselves. 43 .

In addition, species that practice sexual reproduction have the task of “morally preparing” partners for mating. The solution of such tasks without the mediation of a communication system is truly “like death” - this is clearly shown by the Australian marsupial mice (genus Antechinus). Their males rush at the females “without saying a word” (i.e., without first exchanging any communication signals), and as a result, none of them survive the breeding season. As the data of Ian McDonald and his colleagues showed 44 , everyone dies from stress, although in principle the body of a male marsupial mouse is designed for a longer life: if you keep him at home in a cage, keeping him away from females (and other males with whom he would also enter into physical rather than communicative interactions) , he will live for about two years, like the female.

Rice. 4.5. The marsupial mouse is living proof that it is possible to live without communication, but badly and not for long.

With high fecundity and the absence of effective predators, such a species may still exist, but under less favorable conditions it would probably not have been able to compete with species that use communication.

The presence of special communicative actions in the repertoire of the species makes it possible to reduce the number of direct physical influences on relatives: if individuals can, after exchanging several signals, find out which of them is higher than the other in the hierarchy, has more rights to the female, etc., there is no need to bite, peck or otherwise injure each other. Accordingly, the more perfect the communicative system of the species, the less dangerous for the health of partners are the processes of interaction.

A developed communication system makes it possible to effectively organize the joint activities of several individuals - even if signals are not used in the process of this activity. So, for example, wolves that have not previously had a chance to “agree” among themselves on a mutual hierarchy cannot hunt deer in a coordinated manner (and, accordingly, are forced to be content with voles and other rodents). At the moment of hunting, wolves do not exchange signals, but "understanding" of their place in the hierarchy sets a certain internal rhythm of each animal's movements. The combination of various “internal rhythms” that complement each other allows you to successfully combine efforts 45 .

Another task of the communication system is the sorting of individuals by territory. Those who communicate more successfully than others have the greatest chance of occupying the most convenient habitats (i.e., those for which individuals of a given species are best adapted). Less successful communicators are pushed to the periphery. Thus, the communicative system organizes the structure of the population, and this allows - not for specific individuals, but for the population as a whole - to form an adaptive response to changes in the ecological situation.

In general, it can be said that the ability to communicate allows the species (primarily the species, and not its individual representatives) to shift its activity from a direct reaction to events that have already occurred to the area of ​​extrapolation and forecasting. 46 : as a result of actions that are performed not “in a fire order” (after something has happened), but in relatively comfortable conditions of readiness for communication, the future turns out to be predictable to some extent. The exchange of signals allows the individual to make some forecast for the future - and act on it. Accordingly, the advantage is given to those individuals who are able to organize their activity under the condition knowledge what lies ahead for them. This provides the mind with greater stability. The more perfect the communicative system, the more the future as a result of its application becomes predictable (and subsequently shaped). In addition, “the communicative system stimulates the development of a variety of compensatory mechanisms in everyone who says “wrong”” 47 , since “communication continues even if there are violations in the rules for the transmission of signs, if partners are ready to change attitudes towards the norm” 48 .

Rice. 4.6.The takyr roundhead (left) is better armed than its close relative, the mesh roundhead (right). Therefore, it is useful for the takyr roundhead to use communicative signals instead of direct physical influences. And for a reticulated roundhead, on the contrary, it is more profitable to “save” on communication: since its bites are not so terrible, it is unprofitable to spend a lot of resources on getting rid of them.

How communication signals arise can be observed on the example of two closely related species of lizards - takyr and reticulated roundheads ( Phrynocephalus helioscopus, Ph. reticulatus) 49 . For roundheads, it is necessary that the male does not mate with a female that is already fertilized by another male (and does not waste his reproductive resources). Accordingly, the female must avoid mating. The reticulated roundhead in such cases either runs away or bites the male. But this number will not work for takyr round heads: firstly, takyr round heads are more purposeful, which means that the “run away” tactic will require more expenses. And secondly, they are better armed, so that bites will cause more serious damage to the health of the male. And then there is a communicative signal. It is easy to see that these are, in essence, the same movements as those of the reticulated roundhead: movements that reflect the conflict of two urges - to run away and bite. But if in the reticulated roundhead these movements are determined purely emotionally and may be generally imperceptible, then the takyr roundhead makes them clearly ostentatious: they are more stereotyped, even somewhat unnatural, with sharp, clearly distinguishable boundaries, the whole demonstration lasts longer than in the reticulated roundhead. And this is not surprising: for takyr roundheads, it is very important that the male abandon his intentions without harming the health of both his own and the female.

Note that we are probably not talking about any real “signaling” here. The female does not want to tell the male anything, she just experiences very strong fluctuations between the intention to bite and the intention to run away - so strong that the male has time to notice this conflict of motivations, and he starts - again, without any participation of consciousness, probably - behavior " stop the persecution." And selection favors those populations where females are more often born who are able to demonstrate their intentions to the male as carefully as possible, and males who recognize the female's demonstration with maximum efficiency. Accordingly, detectors are formed in males to detect the characteristic features of female “pantomime”, and females make their movements more and more clear and stereotyped, so that their clearly defined boundaries are recognized as well as possible by the male’s detectors. In addition, the demonstration of the female continues for a noticeable time - so that the male has time to recognize the signal and launch the appropriate behavior program.

However, in fairness, it should be noted that takyr roundheads (as well as we humans, by the way) experience “communication failures”, so that some males eventually become a victim of bites. But the proportion of such males is significantly (statistically significant) less than that of the reticulated roundhead.

This example clearly shows that for the emergence of communicative signals, a genius is not needed, in a fit of inspiration, creating signs, inventing ever new combinations of forms and meanings. You probably don't even need consciousness. It is only necessary that the nervous system be able to track events occurring in the external world and launch behavioral programs that optimally respond to them. If it turns out to be important for the life of the species that an individual's relatives could learn about certain intentions before these intentions are translated into actions, selection will take care to make the corresponding intentions as noticeable as possible - on the one hand, to emphasize some components of the physical manifestations of the corresponding intentions, and on the other hand, set up detectors to recognize them. The standard way in which communication systems evolve is for individuals to observe the appearance and/or behavior of their congeners and form detectors to register this. At the same time, elements of the appearance and / or behavior of relatives are becoming more and more easily registered with the help of detectors. There is a positive feedback between the sender and receiver of the communicative signal, which makes the communicative system more and more - in the evolutionary perspective - become more complicated (of course, only until the costs of communication begin to exceed the benefits from it). It is evolutionarily easier to create detectors that register certain characteristics of relatives than to create detectors suitable for observing other species, the landscape, etc. (although such detectors, of course, also exist in organisms), since the greater visibility of external elements type and / or behavior, and the degree of perception of them are encoded in the same genome and are in fact subject to the same natural selection.

In principle, any behavior of an animal can be noticed by its relatives and, in connection with this, change their own behavior. For example, when a dove pecks at a piece of bread, another dove (or, say, a sparrow) may, seeing this, approach and start pecking at the same piece from the other end (unless, of course, they drive it away). Therefore, in the animal world, actions that have both informational and non-informational components are not uncommon. For example, such are the actions of a dog marking its territory with its own urine: in order to empty the bladder, it would be enough for it to urinate once (and not raise its paw at each tree or pole, dropping a few drops each time), but the smell left carries information for other dogs.

One should probably speak about “signals” proper only when this or that action ceases to bring direct biological benefit, becoming only means of information transmission. In this case, it is optimized not for the changing characteristics of the surrounding world, but for tightly tuned detectors.

Perhaps it is in the rough work of the detectors that the key is why movements that have passed from the area of ​​\u200b\u200bnormal everyday activity into the sphere of communication often become abrupt and “artificial”, and their individual elements are maintained longer than similar elements of ordinary behavior. For example, birds of paradise, demonstrating, can hang upside down for hours.

Such discrete, long-lasting signals have been recorded in birds and reptiles, while in mammals, in many cases, the structure of the communication system is different. Maybe the point is that the cerebral cortex (neocortex) allows for more effective recognition, maybe something else, but in mammals, communication signals often turn out to be continual, with an infinite number of transition steps from one signal to another. . Figure 4.7 shows the facial expressions of a domestic cat, corresponding to different degrees of fear and aggressiveness. The diagram shows only three gradations for each of the emotions, but, of course, the cat is not an automaton that abruptly “snaps” from position 1 to position 2 and then to position 3. The reader can mentally complete the infinite number of shades of both of these feelings, which will take an intermediate position between any two neighboring cells of this scheme.

However, mammals have not only emotional signals, smoothly passing one into another. A comparative study of different species belonging to the same classification group (i.e., to the same taxon) makes it possible to see the trends in the development of communication systems.

Rice. 4.7. Domestic cat facial expressions 50 .

Consider, as an example, two different types of ground squirrels (see photo 20 on the insert) - a more primitive (in its structure) California ground squirrel ( Spermophilus beecheyi) and the more “progressive” Belding gopher ( Spermophilus beldingi). Both species have danger signals - chirping and whistling. In Belding's gopher, whistling is a signal of very strong danger, and chirping (or, more precisely, its analogue, trill) is moderate. Note again that the word "signal" here does not mean any intentional action specifically designed for communication. It's just that the gopher, which is more frightened, the sound turns out to be more like a whistle - the more so, the stronger the fear. Accordingly, an infinite number of intermediate “signals” are possible between a trill and a whistle. Kindred who hear this sound are "infected" with the corresponding emotion (just as humans are "infected" by yawns or laughter), and many of them involuntarily develop corresponding vocalizations. To this level of development of communication, the reasoning of E.N. Panova 51 , according to which there are no "languages" in animals.

But the California ground squirrel has a fundamentally different communication system. Whistles and chirps become referential signals. referential signals), i.e., signals denoting a very specific object of the external world (called in semiotics “referent”): whistle means “danger from the air”, chirping means “danger from the ground” 52 .

The “etymology” of these signals is no less transparent than the “etymology” of demonstrations of the takyr roundhead: a flying predator is usually more dangerous (and, accordingly, scary) than a terrestrial predator. But the functioning of the whistle and chirp in the California ground squirrel is fundamentally different. There are no intermediate gradations between them, just as there are no intermediate gradations between an eagle flying through the air and a coyote running on the ground. These signals are no longer so connected with emotions: a ground squirrel can be very frightened by the sudden appearance of a ground predator, but still the sound it will make will (with maximum probability) be a chirp, not a whistle. Conversely, a bird of prey can be very far in the sky and not cause much fear - but a gopher, seeing it, will (in the vast majority of cases) make a whistle. Signals of this type (although they may not be intentional either) do not “infect” kindred with emotions, but provide them with specific information about the world around them.

Accordingly, referential signals can rightly be called signal-symbols (as is done in the work of ethologist Vladimir Semenovich Fridman 53 ), since they do not have an obligatory natural connection between form and meaning. Interestingly, these types of ground squirrels also differ in the perception of the signal: Belding ground squirrels relay the signal only if they themselves are sufficiently frightened, while California ground squirrels are able to transmit information further regardless of their emotional state. The intensity of the signal in this system is proportional not to the degree of excitation of the individual emitting the signal, but to the degree of stereotyping of its external form (since the most “correct” type of signals are most effectively recognized by detectors).

This example shows that specialization to a certain type of existence in social animals may involve not only certain anatomical changes, but also the optimization of “noticeable” actions (communicative signals), their release from emotions and their acquisition of the ability to designate specific objects (or situations) the surrounding world. It is at this level of development of the communicative system that not only the arbitrariness of the sign arises, but also the opportunity to break away from the “here and now”: it is enough for a gopher to hear a whistle in order to be able to launch a behavioral complex that provides salvation from a bird of prey - it is not necessary for him to observe the predator itself. Breaking away from the "here and now" allows the individual to make a less emotional, more "balanced" decision about what to do next.

Referential signals, like the elements of human language, are characterized by categorical perception. This was verified, in particular, in the experiments of Alexei Anatolyevich Shibkov on the most primitive representatives of the order of primates - tupai ( Tupaia glis, see photo 21 on the insert). Combining the supply of one of the signals inherent in this species with a weak electric shock, the animals developed a quite noticeable reaction to this signal - an avoidance reaction. Then the characteristics of the signal were smoothly changed, gradually turning it into another signal of the same type. In full accordance with the model of categorical perception, as long as the signal remained “the same” (according to the experimental dumbass), the animals showed an avoidance reaction, but as soon as the signal became “different”, this reaction immediately disappeared. 54 .

Referential signaling systems have been found in many animal species - in meerkats (African mongooses) Suricata suricatta(types of danger differ - land predator, bird of prey, snake) 55 , in ring-tailed lemurs Lemur catta(distinguish between “land hazard” and “air hazard”) 56 , in prairie dogs (terrestrial rodents from the squirrel family) Cynomys gunnisoni 57 and even in domestic chickens (designation of two types of danger - ground and air predators - and a “food” cry) 58 . Probably, the development of such signals from emotional ones is an evolutionary trend - it can be traced, in particular, in marmots. 59 .

The vervet's danger warning system consists of referential signals ( Cercopithecus aethiops, see photo 22 on the insert). As established by primatologists Dorothy Cheeney and Robert Siphard 60 , vervets have clearly distinct danger signals: one call indicates an eagle, another a leopard (or cheetah), a third a snake (mamba or python), a fourth a dangerous primate (baboon or human). The researchers played them tape recordings of different types of calls (in the absence of corresponding dangers), and the vervets each time reacted “correctly”: at the signal, the “leopard” rushed to thin upper branches, at the signal “eagle” they descended to the ground, at the signal “snake” got up on their hind legs and looked around. To find out whether the vervet signals are emotional or referential, the researchers made recordings longer or shorter, louder or quieter - for emotional signals, it is these characteristics that are of primary importance, for referential ones, they are completely insignificant (just as for the meaning of a word, in the general case, it does not matter). it matters whether it is spoken quickly or slowly, loudly or quietly). Experiments have shown that it is not the intensity of the signal that is important for vervets, but its formant characteristics.

Rice. 4.8. This family tree of marmots (genus Marmotta) is built on the basis of molecular data, but it shows that when moving from more primitive to more advanced species, the number of different signals increases 61 .

The communicative system of vervets is often considered as an intermediate stage on the way to human language: at first there were only a few signals, like those of vervets, then, gradually adding one signal at a time, human ancestors eventually reached the language of the modern type 62 . However, this appears to be incorrect. The fact is that, firstly, the external form (sound shell) of signals in vervets is innate, therefore, the expansion of such a communication system and the addition of new signals to it can occur only through genetic mutations. The human system of signs is not innate, it contains a huge number of elements (tens of thousands - evolutionary time would simply not be enough for such a number of necessary mutations) and, in addition, it is fundamentally open, adding new signs to it easily occurs during the lifetime of one individual. It is possible that you have added a few new words to your vocabulary while reading this chapter - a vervetka cannot achieve this. All that she can do during her life is to somewhat clarify the form (acoustic characteristics) and the meaning of this or that cry (for example, to learn that the signal “eagle” does not apply to carrion birds).

Secondly, in the human language, the reaction to the signal is fundamentally different. If in vervets the perception of a signal rigidly sets behavior, then in humans, the perception of a signal sets only the beginning of activity for its interpretation (according to T. Deacon, this is due to the presence of a huge number of associative links between word-symbols in the brain 64 ), the results of this interpretation may depend on personal experience, on individual character traits, on the attitude towards the signaler, on momentary intentions and preferences, etc., etc. Therefore, it often turns out that the reaction to the same text different listeners (or readers) varies dramatically.

This difference between humans and vervets is understandable. In vervets, the function of this fragment of the communication system is to ensure that the correct behavioral escape program from the appropriate predator is quickly launched, so any deviations from the standard response are suppressed by selection. A person, largely out of the control of natural selection, can afford to think long and hard about the meaning of the message he heard. Thus, although vervets belong, like us, to the order of primates, there is no homology between their communication system and language, but only an analogy.

In other representatives of cercopithecines, large white-nosed monkeys ( Cercopithecus nicticans, see photo 23 on the insert), one can observe another analogy with the human language 65 . These monkeys, like vervet monkeys, have different signals for different types of dangers - the cry “pyow” (in English works - pyow) means "leopard", the cry is "hack" ( hack) - "eagle". But they, as Keith Arnold and Klaus Zuberbühler have established, also have the ability to combine signals, and in doing so, as in human language, a non-trivial increment of meaning (not reducible to a simple sum of the meanings of its constituent parts) is obtained. When a male utters the “pow-hak” sequence (or, more often, repeats each of these calls several times - but in that sequence), this does not cause an escape response from a leopard or eagle, but a movement of the entire group to a fairly significant distance - a more significant than without the pew-hack signal. Some researchers tend to see this as similar to human syntax (two "words" make up a "sentence"), others believe that it is more like morphology (a compound word like armchair-rocking chair), but this is nothing more than a dispute about analogy. As a homology with language, here we can only consider the cognitive possibility of obtaining a non-trivial increment of meaning by combining signals (cf. evening - party“student of the evening department of the institute”, but morning - matinee“feast or show given in the morning”: the same suffix, combined with the names of different parts of the day, adds a completely different meaning).

An even more detailed analogy with human language can be seen in the communication system of Campbell's monkeys ( , see photo 24 on the insert) living in the Tai National Park (Ivory Coast). The males of these monkeys use six types of signals, which the researchers (K. Zuberbühler and his co-authors) write down as “boom”, “crack”, “crak-u”, “hawk”, “hok-u” and “wak-u” 66 . The element "-y", distinguished in three of these signals, is interpreted by the authors as a suffix. He, like, for example, the Russian suffix - stv(about) (cf. Brotherhood) or English - hood(cf. brotherhood"fraternity" from brother“brother”), is not used separately, but in a certain way changes the meaning of the stem to which it is attached. So, the signal “krak” means a leopard, and the signal “krak-u” means danger in general.

The combination of signs gives, as in the case of great white-nosed monkeys, non-trivial increments of meaning. For example, a series of “krak-u” calls may be emitted when a monkey hears the voice of a leopard or the call of Dian monkeys warning of the appearance of a leopard, but if this signal is preceded by a repeated “boom” signal twice, then the entire “phrase” is interpreted as “falling tree or a big branch. If a series of “krak-oo” calls preceded by a pair of “boom” calls is occasionally inserted with a “hok-oo” call, a territorial signal is obtained, which males emit when they meet another group of Campbell's marmosets at the boundary of the territory. Just a double repetition of the “boom” call means that the male has lost sight of his group (females, hearing such a signal, approach the male). In total, the authors identified nine possible “phrases” combined from these six calls.

Rice. 4.9. Campbell's marmoset sounds (sonograms). The black arrow shows formant movement; “suffix” “-у” is circled with a dotted frame 67 .

In the communication system of Campbell's monkeys, the rules of “word order” are also presented: for example, the “boom” signal is used only at the beginning of a chain of calls and is always repeated twice, the “hok” signal precedes the “hok-u” signal if they meet together, a series of calls, warning of an eagle, usually begins with a few cries of “hawk”, and ends with several cries of “krak-u”, etc.

According to the authors of the study, in some aspects this communicative system approaches the human language even more than the success of great apes trained in intermediary languages ​​and able to compose combinations like “WATER” + “BIRD”, although it still does not have a real grammar 68 . And the point here is not only that the rules are quite simple, and their number is small. In my opinion, the main difference between this system and human language is the lack of buildability in it: there are six cries and nine possible “sentences”, and everything is limited to this, new signs and new messages are not built.

The limited nature of the studied material does not make it possible to judge whether all these signals (including those containing the suffix “-у”) and their combinations are innate, inherent in all representatives Cercopithecus campbelli campbelli, or at least some part of this system is the cultural tradition of this particular population. According to the observations of the authors, the first is more likely true: signals are emitted without volitional control, males do not show any intention to inform their relatives, they simply experience emotions - and against this background they emit corresponding cries. At the same time, these data show that even in the absence of volitional control over sound production, the life of a species leading a group lifestyle in the forest, under conditions of low visibility and a large number of predators, leads to the formation of a communication system that uses combinations of sound signals (as with each other). other, and with elements that are not separate signals) in order to produce more different messages from a small number of available innate calls.

If we consider the communication systems of various vertebrate species, we can see another general trend - a decrease in the degree of innateness. In lower animals that have a communicative system, both the external form of the signal and its “meaning” (that one way or another will determine the behavior of the animal that has perceived this signal) are innate; the response to a signal is as innate and stereotyped as the response to non-signal stimuli (therefore, such signals are called release signals). For example, a herring gull chick, begging for food, pecks at a red spot on the parent's beak, and this prompts the parent to feed the chick - in this example, both the actions of the chick and the reaction of the adult bird are innate, instinctive. Signals of this kind, of course, can be improved to some extent in the course of the development of an individual (for example, a gull chick “trains” over time to hit a red spot more accurately), but no more than any other instinctive actions.

In animals with a higher level of cognitive development, the so-called “hierarchical” signals appear. This term, introduced by the ethologist V.S. Friedman, emphasizes that the main function of these signals is the maintenance of hierarchical relations between individuals within the group. The form of hierarchical signals is still innate, but the “meaning” is established in each grouping separately. For example, the presentation by a large motley woodpecker of its relative of the extreme tail feathers means “this is me”, while the meaning “this individual is higher than me in the hierarchy” (or “this individual is lower than me in the hierarchy”), the relative, who saw this signal, completes, based on the experience of previous interactions with this bird. Such a meaning cannot be innate, since it is impossible to predict in advance the place of a particular individual in a particular grouping. In addition, this meaning may change as a result of the interaction of individuals with each other.

The next stage of development is the so-called “ad-hoc-signals”, which are available only in narrow-nosed monkeys (starting with baboons): these elements of communicative behavior are created along the way, for momentary needs, respectively, neither their form nor theirs are innate. meaning". Such a communication system can only be afforded by a species with a fairly well-developed brain, since in order to support communication of this kind, individuals must be ready to attach signal value to actions that were not signals before.

Human language is the next member of this series: the former ad-hoc signals begin to be fixed, accumulated and inherited through learning and imitation - just like, for example, the ability to make tools. The result is an “instrumental” (A.N. Barulin’s term) semiotic system.

As one of the most significant differences between animal communication systems and human language, it is often said that they are not associated with individual experience, with rational activity, while in humans, language and thinking have united in the course of evolution “into one speech-cogitative system” 69 . Indeed, signals with an innate form and innate meaning cannot convey the life experience of an individual - only the generalized experience of the species. But already hierarchical signals partly reflect individual experience, although only in one very limited area - the experience of competitive interactions of one individual with others. Ad-hoc cues are even more closely related to personal experience, since in them both form and meaning can include what a particular individual has become aware of during his life (see below).

As for monkeys, their sound signals, although innate in form, are also likely to be involved in the transmission of personal experience. One such incident was witnessed by S. Savage-Rumbaud after an evening walk through the woods with the bonobo Panbanisha. While walking, they noticed the silhouette of some large cat in a tree and, frightened, returned to the laboratory, where they were met by the bonobos Kanzi, Tamuli, Matata and the chimpanzee Panzi. The monkeys (probably by non-verbal cues) guessed that Panbanisha and S. Savage-Rumbaud were frightened by something in the forest - they, Savage-Rumbaud writes, “began to peer intently into the darkness and make soft sounds of “hoo-hoo”, talking about something out of the ordinary.<Панбаниша>also began to make some sounds, as if telling them about a big cat that we saw in the forest. Everyone else listened and responded with loud cries. Is she saying something to them that I can't understand? I dont know" 70 . It is difficult to say exactly what information Panbanisha conveyed (she did not use the Yerkish), but “Kanzi and Panzi, when they were once again allowed to take a walk, found hesitation and fear in this particular part of the forest. Since they had never been scared before, it seems that they were able to understand something from what happened.” 71 .

A similar “story” was observed by the domestic primatologist Svetlana Leonidovna Novoselova. Chimpanzee Lada, who once had to be taken out for a walk despite her desperate howl and resistance, the next day “told” people about what had happened: “The monkey, dramatically raising its arms, stood up in its nest on a wide shelf, went down and, running around the cage , reproduced intonation very correctly in her cry, which lasted at least 30 minutes, the emotional dynamics of the experiences of the previous day. I and everyone around me got the full impression of “a story about the experience” 72 .

This behavior has also been observed in natural conditions. Jane Goodall, who has long observed the behavior of chimpanzees in nature, describes the case when a cannibal female, Passion, appeared in a group of chimpanzees, which she observed, eating other people's cubs. The female Miff managed to save her cub from Passion, and later, when she met with Passion not one on one, but in the company of friendly males, Miff showed great excitement and was able to convey to the males the idea that she really did not like Passion and she should be punished - at least the males, having seen the behavior of Miff, staged an aggressive display for Passion 73 .

It can be assumed that in all such cases the monkeys convey not so much the concrete experience itself as their emotions about it. And probably in most cases this is enough, since anthropoids are able to very finely distinguish the nuances of what psychologists call "non-verbal communication." For example, the chimpanzee Washoe was able to guess that Roger and Deborah Footes, who worked with her, were husband and wife, although they deliberately tried to behave at work not as spouses, but as colleagues. “No one compares to a chimpanzee in the ability to understand non-verbal signals!” - R. Footes wrote about this 74 .

However, if the information to be conveyed is unusual enough, this mode of communication fails. So, in the example described above, Miff could not explain exactly what happened - otherwise, the males would probably not have limited themselves to a demonstration, but would have kicked Passion out of the group or, at least, would have warned their friendly females about the danger.

However, when, in language projects, monkeys get at their disposal a more perfect communicative tool - an intermediary language (and, by the way, a more understanding interlocutor - a person), they are able to clothe their own experience and views of the world in a sign form (see Fig. examples in chapter 1).

Rice. 4.10. Swinging dance.

Attempts to decipher the communication systems of animals have been made repeatedly. One of the most successful is the deciphering of the wagging dance of the honey bee by the Austrian biologist Karl von Frisch. 75 . The angle between the axis of the dance and the vertical (if the bee is dancing on a vertical wall) corresponds to the angle between the direction to the food and the direction to the Sun, the duration of the bee's movement in a straight line carries information about the distance to the source of food; in addition, the speed with which the bee moves, the wagging of the abdomen, the movement from side to side, the sound component of the dance, etc., are important - at least eleven parameters in total. A brilliant confirmation of the correctness of this decryption was created by Axel Michelsen 76 robotic bee: her computer-controlled dances in the hive (see photo 17 on the insert) successfully mobilized the foraging bees. The bees correctly determined the direction to the feeder and the distance to it - even though the robotic bee did not provide scent information to the foragers.

But many other communication systems have proven more difficult. So, it was not possible to find out exactly what movements of ants, touching their relatives with their antennae, inform them, say, about turning to the right. In dolphins, only a “whistle-signature” was identified. The only deciphered signal of wolves is the “sound of loneliness”. Goodall 77 notes that chimpanzees make the sound “hoo” “only at the sight of a small snake, an unknown moving creature, or a dead animal,” but almost nothing so definite can be said about any other chimpanzee sounds.

Emil Menzel's experiments are widely known 78 with a chimpanzee. The experimenter showed one of the chimpanzees a cache of hidden fruit, and then, when the monkey returned to his group, he somehow “informed” his fellow tribesmen about the location of the cache - at least they went in search, obviously having an idea of ​​​​which direction to follow. go, and sometimes even overtook the reporter. If one chimpanzee was shown a cache of fruit and another a cache of vegetables, the group did not hesitate to choose the first cache. If a toy snake was hidden in the cache, the chimpanzees approached it with some apprehension. But exactly how the chimpanzees transmitted the relevant information remained a mystery. High-ranking individuals seemed to do nothing at all for this, but nevertheless achieved understanding, low-ranking individuals, on the contrary, played out a whole pantomime, made expressive gestures in the appropriate direction - but still they failed to mobilize the group in search of the hiding place.

To decipher the meaning of this or that signal, it is necessary that its appearance one-to-one correspond either to some situation in the outside world, or to a strictly defined reaction of individuals perceiving the signal. Therefore, it turned out to be so easy to decipher the danger warning system in vervet monkeys: a call with certain acoustic characteristics (different from the characteristics of other calls) is strongly correlated (a) with the presence of a leopard in the field of view and (b) with the flight of all monkeys hearing the signal to thin upper branches.

But most of the signals from wolves, dolphins, chimpanzees do not show such strong correlations. As E.N. Panov, they can “act at different times in different capacities” 79 . For example, in chimpanzees, the same signal is associated with a situation of friendliness, and with a situation of submission, and even with a situation of aggression. According to Panov, this indicates that, from the point of view of information theory, “these signals are essentially degenerate” 80 and have no clear meaning. But the same reasoning applies to many expressions of human language. If we consider words not in a dictionary, where quite definite semantics are assigned to each of them, but as part of expressions pronounced in real life situations, it is easy to see that they, like animal signals, can act in different qualities at different times. For example, the sentence “Well done!” can act both as a praise (“Have you done all the lessons already? Well done!”), And as a reprimand (“Broke a cup? Well done!”). The word “point” can mean the beginning (“starting point”) and the end (“put a point on this”), a small black circle depicted on paper (“draw a straight line through point A and point B”), and a real, sometimes quite large and not always a round place (“outlet”). Thus, if we follow the logic of E.N. Panov, human language also, perhaps, will have to be recognized as degenerate from the point of view of information theory.

Rice. 4.11. These six chimpanzee signals (distinguished by ethologist Jaan van Hooff) may, albeit with varying frequency, appear in different situations - both in friendly interaction (shaded bars), to show submission (white bars), and in aggression (black bars). The relative height of the bars reflects the frequency with which each signal was recorded in the corresponding situation. The signal “squeal with bared teeth” (e) is used in all three types of interactions. 81 .

In human languages, apparently, there is not a single expression that would evoke the same reaction every time. Even having heard the cry “Fire!”, some people will rush to participate in the rescue, others will loot, others will contemplate what is happening without taking any action, and the fourth will simply pass by. As Tyutchev wrote, "It is not given to us to predict ...". There is no situation that would unequivocally cause the appearance of this or that signal - people build their statements differently depending on which elements of the situation seem to them more important in this particular case, take into account the fund of knowledge that, in their opinion, , possesses the listener, reflect in the statement their attitude to the situation (and often to the listener), etc., etc. The colossal redundancy that any human language possesses provides people with very wide opportunities for such variation. On the other hand, listeners have sufficient cognitive capabilities to “guess” (in most cases correctly) what meaning the speaker put into his message.

So, it may be no coincidence that signals that do not show a direct connection either with the current situation or with the reaction of individuals perceiving the signal are found in sufficiently developed (consisting of many signals) communication systems, in species with a high cognitive potential, - such as chimpanzees, wolves, carpenter ants or dolphins. It cannot be ruled out that upon reaching a certain level of organization, the communicative system acquires the ability to include multi-valued signals, to vary the “meaning” of the signal depending on various situationally determined parameters.

Some elements of this possibility have already been found in the studied communication systems of animals. So, for example, in baboons, chakma ( Papio ursinus or Papio cynocephalus ursinus) there are two acoustically different “grunts” signals: one of them expresses the desire to move (as a group) through an open space full of dangers to another part of the forest, the other - the desire to babysit the cub. As has been established by Drew Randall, Robert Siphard, Dorothy Cheeney and Michael Ouren, the response to both of these signals depends on the specific situation (for example, the signal is given at the edge of the forest area or in the middle of it), as well as on the rank relationship of the signaling and receiving individual. 82 . Context dependence has also been found in such a developed communication system as pheromone communication in insects. As experiments on Drosophila have shown, the same chemical signal-pheromone “can carry a different meaning depending on the context, that is, a complex of other pheromones, as well as behavioral, visual and sound signals” 83 .

Another aspect of animal research in the context of the origin of human language is the search for homologies and pre-adaptations. What features shared by both humans and primates, and thus likely shared by a common ancestor of humans and their closest relatives, were useful in the formation of language? What were the starting conditions for glottogenesis?

Studies show that monkeys have homologues of the main speech centers - Broca's area and Wernicke's area. 84 . These zones correspond to human ones not only in their location, but also in cellular composition, as well as in incoming and outgoing neural connections; in addition, these areas - both in humans and in great apes - are interconnected by a bundle of fibers (this was shown by both domestic and foreign researchers 85 ).

But in monkeys, these parts of the brain are much less involved in sound communication than in humans, since they are not involved in the production of signals. The homologue of Broca's area is “responsible” for automatic complex behavioral programs carried out by the muscles of the face, mouth, tongue and larynx, as well as for coordinated action programs of the right hand 86 . The homologue of Wernicke's area (and neighboring areas of the brain) are used to recognize sound signals, as well as to distinguish relatives by voice. In addition, “various subregions of these homologues receive input from all parts of the brain involved in hearing, sensation of touch in the mouth, tongue and larynx, and areas where streams of information from all the senses merge” 87 .

According to Erich Jarvis, homology can be traced in the pathways of auditory information in the brain. These pathways are similar in mammals, birds and reptiles, which means that the basis for sound learning was laid at least 320 million years ago. 88 .

The chimpanzee's communication system uses all possible channels of communication - both visual, and auditory, and olfactory, and tactile, while "most of the information is transmitted through two or more channels" 89 . It also contains involuntary, purely natural signals, such as swelling of the genital skin in females, indicating receptivity, and intentional signals that one individual consciously gives to another. Sound signals belong to the first category - they are innate (at least they occur even in conditions of deprivation, when the growing chimpanzee does not have the opportunity to adopt them from relatives) 90 and released randomly. As J. Goodall writes, “to make a sound in the absence of appropriate emotional state is an almost impossible task for a chimpanzee” 91 . Husbands Cathy and Kate Hayes, who tried to teach home-raised female chimpanzee Vicki to speak, testify that she absolutely could not make any sounds intentionally. 92 . All the chimpanzee can do is suppress the sound. J. Goodall describes the case 93 , when the teenage Figan, who was given bananas by the researchers, uttered a food cry, older males came running to the cry and took away the bananas from Figan. The next time, Feagan acted more cunningly - he suppressed a food cry with an effort of will (and got bananas), but at the same time, according to Goodall, the sounds "got stuck somewhere in his throat, and he seemed to almost suffocate." Associated with emotions, “chimpanzee calls form a continuous series” 94 , therefore, different researchers count different numbers of signals in the vocal repertoire of chimpanzees.

The case with Figan, by the way, is the clearest proof that the evolution of the communication system is focused on the benefits of the group, and not the individual. The tendency to give signals is encouraged by selection even when it turns out to be rather harmful for the signaling individual, as for Figan, who was deprived (for the first time) of bananas.

However, it is possible that the idea of ​​​​the exclusively emotional nature of chimpanzee sound signals is subject to revision. According to Katie Slokombe and Klaus Zuberbühler, chimpanzee food calls are referential. The researchers tape-recorded the calls of chimpanzees given apples and the calls of chimpanzees given breadfruit. When playing tape recordings, the monkeys reliably distinguished between these two types of calls - they conducted more intensive searches under the tree, the fruits of which were indicated by the cry they heard. The chimpanzees in the control group, to whom these recordings were not played, searched under the trees of both species approximately equally. 95 . Similar results were obtained for bonobos - Zanna Clay and Klaus Zuberbühler identified five different food calls in them, emitted at different frequencies, depending on the degree of preference for food. 96 . Even if it is not a matter of referentiality, but simply that different types of food evoke somewhat different emotions in monkeys (for example, because some of them are tastier than others), the ability to distinguish such signals and successfully relate them to the realities of the external world is good adaptation to the language.

It is possible that another “human” property will be found in the sound signals of chimpanzees and bonobos - combinativity: as studies show, their so-called long cries “consist of a limited number of basic elements that can be combined in different ways depending on the situation and in different animals ” 97 .

To some extent, onomatopoeia is also represented in chimpanzee communication: according to John Mitani and Karl Brandt 98 , males, joining the long calls of other males, tend to reproduce in their call some acoustic parameters of the “interlocutor” vocalization.

In addition to sounds, chimpanzees use facial expressions, gestures, postures, actions (touching, patting, hugging, kissing, slapping, slapping), manipulating objects. For example, to appease the aggressor, a substitution posture can be used (a chimpanzee, as it were, is substituted for mating); jumping and waving the hand are aggressive signals. For the same purpose of demonstrating aggressive intentions, male chimpanzees can drag branches along the ground, roll stones, and swing bushes. Grooming strengthens friendly relations - searching the coat (by the way, not only in chimpanzees, see photo 26 on the insert).

As shown by M.A. Deryagin and S.V. Vasiliev, the process of communication in monkeys - and not only in anthropoids, but also in other species (in their work, brown capuchins were studied Cebus apella, cynomolgus macaques Macaca fascicularis, rhesus monkeys Macaca mulatta, brown macaques Macaca arctoides, Japanese macaques Macaca fuscata, baboons hamadryas Papio hamadryas, white-handed gibbons Hylobates lar and chimps Pan troglodytes) - “is a sequence of ... communication complexes” 99 . The complexes consist of elements of different modality, for example, posture, facial expressions and gesture. Some complexes are common to all studied species, for example: “stare - lunge, grin - aggressive acoustic signal - stare - flash<быстрое движение бровями вверх. - С.Б.>- lunge” 100 , others are characteristic only for certain species. For example, only chimpanzees have such a communication complex: “gaze - approach - outstretched hand - friendly contact sound” 101 . Each individual element of such a complex can be decomposed into elementary insignificant components, for example, any element of facial expressions is a movement of a number of facial muscles - other combinations of movements of the same muscles give a different “facial expression”. Thus, it can be stated that the communication of monkeys in nature (and not only under the conditions of the “language project”) is characterized by a double division.

Chimpanzees can invent ad-hoc signals, and these signals are understood by congeners as well as congenital or long-known ones. The book by J. Goodall “Chimpanzees in Nature: Behavior” describes such a case. 102 occurred in 1964: Mike, a male chimpanzee, saw a group of high-ranking males near the researchers' camp and went to the camp. There “he picked up two empty canisters, and, holding them by the handles, one in each hand, went (straightening up) to the same place, sat down and stared at the other males, who were then of ever higher rank compared to him. They continued to quietly search each other, not paying attention to him. A second later, Mike began to sway almost imperceptibly from side to side, and his fur slightly reared up. The rest of the males still ignored his presence. Gradually, Mike began to sway harder, his hair completely bristling, and with hooting sounds, he suddenly rushed at the seniors in rank, hitting the canisters in front of him. The rest of the males ran away. Sometimes Mike repeated his performance four times in a row…”. As a result of such actions, Mike managed to convey to his relatives the idea that he should be recognized as senior in rank - and he retained this rank for many years to come.

Chimpanzees can slightly change the meaning of the signals, taking into account the current situation. Goodall describes a case in which an adult male Figan (the one who, as a teenager, managed not to scream at the sight of bananas) used a sign to induce another male, Jomeo, to help him hunt bush pig piglets. He, “gazing intently at the thickets where the pig with the brood had disappeared, turned to Jomeo and made a characteristic gesture, shaking a branch - this is how males usually call females to themselves during courtship. Jomeo hurried to him, both rushed into the thicket, and one pig was caught. 103 .

Ad-hoc signals can be fixed and transmitted according to tradition - different for different populations. For example, chimpanzees living in the mountains of Mahal, courting females, nibble leaves with a loud sound, and chimpanzees in the Thai National Park in a similar situation tap their knuckles on the trunk of a small tree. 104 . On the other hand, among the chimpanzees of Bossu, Guinea, loud leaf-nibbling is considered an invitation to play. 105 . According to Simone Pica and John Mitani 106 , chimpanzees of the Ngogo community in Kibale National Park, Uganda, use the “loud scratch” gesture as an indication of the specific spot on their body that the groomer is asked to search. The same type of gesture - an exaggeratedly noticeable loud scratching of the side - is used by the Gombe chimpanzee in another function: so the mother, sitting on the lower branches of the tree, calls the offspring that has climbed higher to climb on it in order to go down to the ground together. 107 . Domestic primatologist Leonid Alexandrovich Firsov, observing the behavior of chimpanzees in laboratory and field conditions for many years, repeatedly witnessed how monkeys “invented” their own ad-hoc signals 108 - both sound and gestural - to attract attention. These (non-innate!) forms of communication allowed them to successfully achieve contact with people who could not only “talk” with animals and, say, caress them, but also let them out of the enclosure or treat them to something delicious. If this or that “sign” led to success, the animal repeated it the next time, in addition, this signal was adopted (by imitation) by other monkeys who saw its successful use. The female chimpanzee Elya, moved for several years from the Rostov Zoo to Koltushi, learned many of these signals from the local chimpanzees, and then, when she returned to Rostov, other chimpanzees adopted these non-innate elements of communicative behavior from her. As L.A. Firsov, “the fact is more than interesting” 109 .

Chimpanzees are also able to deliberately give increased visibility to their actions, thereby investing in them a communicative component - this is evidenced by the case discussed above (Chapter 3), when a mother chimpanzee showed her daughter how to crack nuts. The action, which in the ordinary situation serves quite practical purposes, was performed more slowly and more distinctly than is necessary to crack the nut, and its purpose was clearly that the daughter might acquire the knowledge of how to hold a stone in such a situation.

As J. Goodall writes, chimpanzees “show great ingenuity in communicative acts. The actual signals given by a male during courtship vary both in the same male in different situations and in different males; the female almost certainly responds to the totality of various signals, and not to individual elements” 110 .

The basis for such a free conversion of actions into signals is that chimpanzees can "anticipate the likely nature of the reaction of congeners to their own behavior or to the actions of other chimpanzees and modify their actions accordingly", as well as "carefully notice all sorts of involuntary, non-directional details behavior of their relatives, which can serve as random signals” 111 . Since chimpanzees are smart enough to correctly interpret the plastic behavior of their congeners and take it into account when constructing their own line of behavior, it is easy to get them to interpret those elements of behavior that congeners can deliberately make especially noticeable - in this case, ad-hoc signals are obtained. . The boundary between simple behavior and signals is quite shaky, since even actions completely devoid of a signal component can be understood by relatives who will change their own behavior in connection with this. We can talk about signaling only insofar as chimpanzees deliberately accompany some of their actions with special details that enhance visibility.

Thus, it can be seen that quite a few properties useful for the development of language are present in chimpanzees. Probably, the common ancestors of chimpanzees and humans also had them - and even if they developed independently, then this can be considered as another manifestation of the law of homological series in hereditary variability formulated by Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov (“species and genera that are genetically close are characterized by similar series of hereditary variability with such regularity that, knowing a number of forms within one species, one can foresee the occurrence of parallel forms in other species and genera”).

Extremely interesting regularities in the evolution of communication systems within the order of primates were revealed by M.A. Deryagin and S.V. Vasiliev 112 . According to them, although all primates use many channels of information transmission - visual, acoustic and olfactory (smell), - in different taxa, the most important role in communication is assigned to different channels. In semi-monkeys - lemurs and galagos - the leading role belongs to the olfactory channel, in broad-nosed monkeys, the acoustic channel comes to the fore (in some - along with the olfactory), in narrow-nosed (except for humans) - visual. In more progressive taxa, not only does the total number of signals increase, but there is also a redistribution of the shares of signals of different types in the communicative inventory. For example, the number of different postures and tactile elements is approximately doubled in chimpanzees compared to lower apes, and the number of gestures is 4–5 times 113 . The similarity between individual signals (both formal and “semantic”) makes it possible to assume that the most archaic communicative elements are postures (“they are found with approximately the same frequency in all the species we studied,” write M.A. Deryagina and S.V. Vasiliev 114 ). Gestures, on the contrary, turn out to be the most progressive - they are “younger” not only in postures, but also in facial expressions. Another evolutionary trend is the increase in the number of friendly signals in the repertoire. Of the 13 common for all types of communicative complexes studied, “10 are associated with an aggressive context of behavior” 115 . “Probably, the primary function of communication complexes was to prevent aggression, especially its contact destructive forms” 116 . Subsequently, friendly elements of communication develop - their number grows in more advanced species compared to more primitive ones; in chimpanzees they form special friendly complexes. In addition, in chimpanzees, the connection of “gestures and sounds in a friendly sphere of communication” is enhanced. 117 . The most progressive feature of the communicative system is the ability to “combine elements into complexes and recombine them in a new situation” 118 - it is most clearly manifested in bonobos in friendly social contacts. Such an evolutionary path of development of the communicative system - from aggressive contacts to friendly and cooperative ones - seems to be very important for the formation of a human language.

General patterns of evolution are observed for a variety of taxa. Therefore, in the course of the formation of a language, it is natural to expect such processes as the appearance in signals of components of “increased visibility” (easily registered by detectors), the transformation of iconic signals into symbolic ones, emotional ones into referential ones, innate ones into learned ones, the emergence of the ability to transmit information about that is not directly in the field of observation, and compress information. All these processes are an integral property of the development of communication systems in nature.

Something else needs to be explained. Since communication, as already mentioned, is very expensive “costs”, you can go to such costs only in the name of something really vital. Therefore, only the most important moments for the life of the species are included in the “field of action” of the communicative system in animals. And this gives rise to the inevitable limitations of the communication systems found in nature. Accordingly, the hypothesis about the origin of the language must certainly answer the question of what environmental factors became so vital for our ancestors that they needed just such a communicative system (with a huge number of concepts - from the most concrete to the most abstract). In addition, it must also explain from what moment and for what reasons (and in what species of hominids) the energy budget acquired such characteristics that the maintenance of such a colossal communication system became possible without threatening general fitness - and perhaps hominids (according to at least from some time) began to produce so much “extra” energy that the development of the language could continue even when there was no longer a strict need for this.

Food production, protection, protection of the boundaries of the territory, search for marriage partners, care for offspring - all this multifaceted structure of the animal's behavior is necessary for life support and the continuation of its kind.

All animals periodically enter into intraspecific contacts with each other. First of all, this applies to the field of reproduction, where more or less close contact between sexual partners is often observed. In addition, representatives of the same species often accumulate in places with favorable conditions for existence (an abundance of food, optimal physical parameters of the environment, etc.). In these and similar cases, there is a biological interaction between animal organisms, on the basis of which, in the process of evolution, originated communication phenomena and, as a consequence, systems and means of communication. Neither any contact between a male and a female, much less the accumulation of animals in places favorable for them (often with the formation of a colony) is a manifestation of communication. The latter, as well as the group behavior associated with it, presupposes as an indispensable condition not only physical or biological, but above all mental interaction (exchange of information) between individuals, expressed in the coordination, integration of their actions. This fully applies to animals that are higher than annelids and lower mollusks.

Communication occurs only when there are special forms of behavior, the special function of which is the transfer of information from one individual to another, that is, some actions of the animal acquire a signal value.

The German ethologist G. Tembrok, who devoted much effort to studying the processes of communication and their evolution, emphasizes that the phenomena of communication and, accordingly, true animal communities (herds, flocks, families, etc.) can only be discussed when there is a joint life, in which several independent individuals carry out together (in time and space) homogeneous forms of behavior in more than one functional area. The conditions for such joint activity may change, sometimes it is carried out when functions are divided between individuals.

Communication is absent in lower invertebrates and appears only in rudimentary forms in some of their higher representatives, then, on the contrary, it is inherent in all higher animals (including higher invertebrates), and we can say that, to one degree or another, the behavior of higher animals, including of a person, as a whole, is always carried out in conditions of communication, at least periodically.

As already mentioned, the most important element of communication is the exchange of information - communication. At the same time, the informative content of communicative actions (zoosemantics) can serve to identify (belonging to a particular species, community, sex, etc.), signal the physiological state of the animal (hunger, sexual arousal, etc.), or serve to alert other individuals about danger, finding food, resting places, etc.

According to the mechanism of action (zoopragmatics), the forms of communication differ in the channels of information transmission (optical, acoustic, chemical, tactile, etc.), but in all cases, animal communications are, unlike humans, a closed system, i.e. are composed of a limited number of species-typical signals sent by one animal and adequately perceived by another animal or animals.

Communication between animals is impossible without genetic fixation of the ability to both adequately perceive and transmit information, which is provided by innate triggers.

Among the optical forms of communication, an important place is occupied by expressive postures and body movements, which consist in the fact that animals very noticeably show each other certain parts of their bodies, often bearing specific signal signs (bright patterns, appendages, etc. structural formations). This form of signaling is called "demonstration behavior". In other cases, the signal function is performed by special movements (of the whole body or its individual parts) without a special display of special structural formations, in others - the maximum increase in the volume or surface of the body or at least some of its sections (by inflating it, straightening folds, ruffling feathers or hair). etc.), remember the peacock. All these movements are always performed "emphatically", often with "exaggerated" intensity. As a rule, in higher animals, all movements have some kind of signal value if they are performed in the presence of another individual.

Communication occurs when an animal or group of animals gives a signal that elicits a response. Usually (but not always) those who send and those who receive a communication signal belong to the same species. An animal that has received a signal does not always respond to it with a clear reaction. For example, a group-dominant great ape may ignore a subservient ape's signal, but even this snub is a response because it reminds the subservient that the dominant ape occupies a higher position in the group's social hierarchy.

A communicative signal can be transmitted by sound or a system of sounds, a gesture or other body movements, including facial ones; the position and color of the body or its parts; release of odorous substances; finally, physical contact between individuals.

Animals receive communication signals and other information about the outside world through the physical senses of sight, hearing, and touch, as well as the chemical senses of smell and taste. For animals with highly developed vision and hearing, the perception of visual and sound signals is of primary importance, but most animals have the most developed “chemical” senses. Relatively few animals, mainly primates, transmit information using a combination of different signals - gestures, body movements and sounds, which expands the possibilities of their "vocabulary".

The higher the position of an animal in the evolutionary hierarchy, the more complex its sense organs and the more perfect the apparatus of biocommunication. For example, in insects, the eyes cannot focus, and they see only blurry silhouettes of objects; on the contrary, in vertebrates, the eyes are focused, so they perceive objects quite clearly. Man and many animals make sounds with the help of vocal cords located in the larynx. Insects make sounds by rubbing one part of their body against another, and some fish "drum" by clicking their gill covers.

All sounds have certain characteristics - oscillation frequency (pitch), amplitude (loudness), duration, rhythm and pulsation. Each of these characteristics matters to a particular animal when it comes to communication.

In humans, the organs of smell are located in the nasal cavity, taste - in the oral cavity; however, in many animals, such as insects, the organs of smell are located on the antennae (antennas), and the taste organs are located on the limbs. Often the hairs (sensilla) of insects serve as organs of tactile sense, or touch. When the sense organs register changes in the environment, such as the appearance of a new sight, sound or smell, the information is transmitted to the brain, and this "biological computer" sorts and integrates all incoming data so that its owner can respond to them appropriately.

Most species do not have a "true language" as we understand it. The "talk" of animals consists of the relatively few basic signals that are necessary for the survival of the individual and the species; these signals do not carry any information about the past and the future, as well as about any abstract concepts. Nevertheless, according to some scientists, in the coming decades, a person will be able to communicate with animals, most likely with aquatic mammals.

All functions of the language are manifested in communications. The main functions of the language include:

communicative (or communication function) - the main function of the language, the use of language to convey information;

constructive (or mental; thought-forming) - the formation of the thinking of the individual and society;

cognitive (or accumulative function) - the transfer of information and its storage;

emotional-expressive - expression of feelings, emotions;

voluntarily (or invocative-incentive function) - the function of influence;

Although there is evidence that some talking birds are able to use their imitative abilities for the needs of interspecies communication, the actions of talking birds (mains, macaws) do not meet this definition.

One approach to learning animal language is through experiential learning of an intermediary language. Such experiments with the participation of great apes have gained great popularity. Since, due to anatomical and physiological features, monkeys are not able to reproduce the sounds of human speech, the first attempts to teach them human language failed.

The first experiment using the sign language of an intermediary was undertaken by the Gardners. They proceeded from Robert Yerkes' assumption that chimpanzees are incapable of articulating the sounds of human language. The chimpanzee Washoe showed the ability to combine signs like "you" + "tickle" + "I", "give" + "sweet". Monkeys at the University of Nevada Zoo in Reno used Amslen to communicate with each other. The language of gophers is quite complex and consists of a variety of whistles, chirps and clicks of varying frequency and volume. Animals also have interspecies communication.

Joint flock hunting is widespread among mammals (wolves, lions, etc.) and some birds, there are also cases of interspecific coordinated hunting.

Types of signaling for animal communication:

Smell and (chemical): various secretions, urine, feces, odorous traces, marks. The "family" and "single" smells are different. By smell, you can determine how long the animal was here, age, gender, height, whether it is healthy, etc.

Sounds: songs, calls. Sound "language" is necessary if the animals cannot see each other - there is no way to communicate through postures and body movements. The bulk of sound signals do not have a direct addressee. For example, the trumpet voice of a deer is carried for many kilometers and can mean: calling a female or calling an opponent to fight. The meaning of the signal may change depending on the situation.

Optical signaling: shape, color (may change in some species depending on the situation), pattern (war paint), posture language (setting ears, tail), body movements (ritual dances, call to play, courtship, etc.), gestures , facial expressions (grin). There are "dialects" characteristic of different territories, so animals from different habitats may not understand the same species.

visual alarm: diggings, stripped bark, bitten branches, traces, paths. Usually they are combined with chemicals.

Signals to sexual partners and possible competitors.

Signals that ensure the exchange of information between parents and offspring.

A cry of alarm.

Message about the presence of food.

Signals that help maintain contact between pack members.

Signals - switches (in dogs, for example, the characteristic posture of an invitation to play precedes a play struggle, accompanied by play aggression).

Intent signals precede action.

Signals of expression of aggression.

Peace signals.

Signals of dissatisfaction (frustration).

Basically, all signals are species-specific, but some may be informative for other species: alarm, aggression, and the presence of food.

It has been proven that the higher the position of an animal in the hierarchy, the more perfect its biocommunication apparatus.

Signal system- a system of conditioned and unconditional reflex connections of the higher nervous system of animals, including humans, and the surrounding world. Distinguish between the first and second signal systems.

Pavlov called the communication system used by animals first signal system.

“This is what we also have in ourselves as impressions, sensations and ideas from the external environment, both general natural and from our social, excluding the word, audible and visible. This is the first signaling system of reality that we have in common with animals.(I.P. Pavlov).

First signal system developed in almost all animals, while second signal system only present in humans and possibly some cetaceans. This is due to the fact that only a person is able to form an image abstracted from circumstances. After pronouncing the word "lemon", a person can imagine how sour it is and how they usually wrinkle when they eat it, that is, pronouncing the word calls up an image in memory (the second signal system is triggered); if at the same time an increased separation of saliva began, then this is the work of the first signal system.

sense organs It is a connection with the outside world. The information received by the sense organs is encoded, converted into electrochemical impulses and transmitted to the central nervous system, where it is analyzed and compared with other information received from other sense organs and from memory. This is followed by the response of the organism, as a result of which the behavior of the animal changes, compensatory mechanisms are activated, leading to an adaptation reaction. Those. in the body there is a continuously operating self-regulating system designed to provide the animal with the most favorable conditions.

Organs perceive the environment with the help of receptors. Receptors are divided into two groups: interoreceptors- perceive irritation inside the body and exteroreceptors- perceive irritation from the external environment.

Interoreceptors are divided into: vestibuloreceptors (signal the body about the position of the body in space), proprioceptors (nerve endings in muscles, tendons), visceroreceptors (irritation of internal organs).

Exteroreceptors They are divided into contact (taste, touch) and distant (vision, hearing, smell).

5 Amazing Senses Animals Have ( Sveta Gogol especially for mixstuff):

If we, people, have superiority over animals, then this definitely does not apply to the senses ...

1.Catfish - a giant floating tongue

The average human has 10,000 lingual papillae. And they are all concentrated in one place - in the language. For comparison, according to the statements of one neurophysiologist and, concurrently, a fish specialist, a catfish 15 centimeters long has taste receptors not less than 250,000. And they are located all over his body. That is, in which place you do not touch him, he will always feel what you taste like. Unless, of course, it's fried.

2.Bats "see" our circulatory system

Bats (a species called "vampires") are the only mammals that feed on blood. An unusually subtle development of feeling is connected with this gastronomic addiction, thanks to which, by the way, bats received their extremely unaesthetic nose from mother nature. This sense allows animals to "see" the blood running through your veins.

The nose of the "vampires" is equipped with a kind of infrared detector that reacts to changes in body temperature - at a distance. This is already amazing, because other mammals, including you and me, need to touch an object in order to tell whether it is warm or cold. But the most striking thing is that they are able to determine which vein is of greatest interest to them.

Their "thermal sensors" are so advanced that they don't have to waste time repeatedly thrusting their teeth into the flesh of their prey. "Vampires" hit right in the vein, and always on the first try.

Narwhal or unicorn tusk( belongs to the order of cetaceans, lives in the waters of the Arctic Ocean) - giant sensory organ

For a long time, scientists wondered why the narwhal needed this strange tusk, sharpening from the head. And finally found out. First of all, the tusk turned out to be not even a tusk at all, but a tooth. One (occasionally two) long, spiraling tooth covered with ten million nerve endings.

Studies have shown, for example, that a narwhal can determine the degree of salinity of water with its teeth. Why do they need it? The salt content affects the freezing of water. And if you live among floating ice floes and breathe air, then it is very important for you to know that at any moment you can rise to the surface. So the tusk-tooth is a device that can predict the formation of ice. And not only. It can determine the temperature, water pressure, and if it is raised into the air, then the barometric pressure.

ghost fish hunts and observes at the same time, using mirror vision.

Ghost fish is one of the most unusual inhabitants of the deep sea. She was associated with a nightmare thanks to her eyes - two large orange spheres.

In order not to get caught in the teeth of a predator, this fish must be constantly on the alert - even when it hunts itself. That is, she needs a circular review. And she has one.

The eyes of the ghost fish are divided into two parts, so that it can look both forward and backward at the same time. It's like having an extra pair of eyes in the back of your head.

Only in the case of our fish, this is not a separate pair of eyes, but a complex system with built-in curved plates resembling a mirror, which allow you to capture the subtlest glow half a kilometer below the surface of the water. That is, it’s more likely not even eyes on the back of the head, but a pair of special glasses with built-in mirrors that allow you to see what is happening behind.

When a ghost fish goes hunting, the little black eyes that you see on the sides are looking for future food. And what looks like big orange eyes from above is the reverse side of the mirror surface, which captures the biological glow and warns of the appearance of predators.

5.Clam with stone eyes

Shellfish or chiton it does not look like anything interesting - it looks like a wood lice. But he also has something really striking - stone eyes. We do not want to say that this creature has eyes that look like stone. They consist of aragonite - a form of limestone, the same one that is part of the shells of mollusks. And there can be several hundred such stone eyes on the shell of a mollusk.

Mollusks somehow manage to achieve optical qualities from the material from which we build houses, and "make" an optical lens out of it ... How - scientists have yet to find out. And although the vision of chitons is not very good, but with their stone eyes they are quite able to distinguish light from shadow and even distinguish the shape of an object.

All incoming information is processed using analyzers. They have three departments:

1) peripheral or receptor;

2) conductive - conductive fibers;

3) central or cerebral.

For example: the visual analyzer includes 1) the eye, 2) the optic nerve, 3) the area in the occipital lobe of the cerebral cortex. For normal operation, all three departments must function correctly.

Tactile sensitivity

When some sense organs fail, the rest increase and expand their functions. The blind, for example, have much more developed chemical and tactile communications.

Touch- the ability of the animal to perceive various external influences, carried out by the receptors of the skin and the musculoskeletal system. With their help, you can determine: shape, size, temperature, consistency, position and movement in space, etc.

Skin receptors - superficial: pain and temperature. Most are in the head area. Continuous exposure to mechano-thermoreceptors leads to a decrease in their sensitivity. For example, if a dog is constantly exposed to a strict collar, then over time it loses sensitivity to it - it adapts. When exposed to novocaine, pain receptors are turned off.

Tactile communication is very important for "family" animals. For example, caring for each other's coat, various touches, are often associated with a hierarchy: a high-ranking animal touches, a lower-ranked animal shows obedience.

Chemocommunication(chemical feeling)

Taste perception necessary to determine the edibility of the product.

Taste Analyzer includes taste buds in the taste formations of the tongue and the brain section of the taste analyzer, located in the temporal lobe. Taste reception is directly related to sense of smell.

Smell- perception of a certain property (smell) of chemical compounds in the environment through certain organs. The sense of smell sometimes provides more information than hearing and sight. The mucous membrane of the olfactory organs in dogs contains thousands of times more sensitive cells than the human nose, and the olfactory lobes of the brain are also better developed. Attractive and repulsive odors for different species of animals can be different.

Olfactory analyzer consists of a perceiving apparatus (nose, nasal receptors), pathways and a cortical center. The olfactory apparatus is activated only when air moves in the nose. Lateral incisions on the nose of animals are designed to perceive the smell brought by side and rear winds. The sense of smell decreases with fatigue, runny nose, fatigue of the olfactory apparatus itself.

Chemocommunication is carried out mainly with the help of pheromones and individual smell.

Pheromones- a special group of odorous substances - biological markers of their own kind, volatile chemosignals that control neuroendocrine behavioral reactions, development processes, and other processes associated with social behavior and reproduction. The most famous pheromones:

epagons - pheromones of love;

odmihnions - guiding threads, marks;

toribones - pheromones of fear and anxiety;

gonofions-pheromones that change sexual properties;

gamophions-pheromones of puberty;

ethophions-pheromones of behavior;

lichneumons are pheromones of taste.

The urine of aggressive males contains aggression pheromone.

maternal pheromone, is produced during lactation, which gives a specific smell to the cubs.

Individual scent- business card, individual, but species-specific. It is formed from: gender, age, functional state, stage of the sexual cycle, etc. Changes throughout life. A huge role in the formation of individual smell is played by the surrounding microbial landscape. In a group of animals, bacteria are transferred from individual to individual upon contact, so a similar odor is maintained. According to him, "our" - "alien" is determined. Any change (fear, excitement, illness, etc.) is accompanied by a change in smell.

Territory marking related to chemocommunication. Almost all animals mark their territory with a special smell. This is an extremely important form of behavior, as the animal signals about itself to other individuals. Thanks to marks, there is a more even, and most importantly, structured distribution of individuals in the population, opponents avoid each other's territory, in order to avoid conflict and injury, sexual partners find each other more easily. Everything works to preserve the species as a whole.

markers are products secreted by the glands. Skin glands are sweat and sebaceous.

sweat markers- liquid, contribute to the cooling of the skin and thermoregulation. Their operation depends on the ambient temperature and other factors, incl. and from emotional.

Sebaceous markers- a different type of secretion, but they function mainly together with sweat ones, because have common external excretory ducts. In mammals covered with hair, sweat glands that secrete liquid sweat are located on the crumbs of the paws. On the rest of the surface, the glands secrete thicker sweat, mixing with the secretion of the sebaceous glands, which forms a natural fatty lubricant of the skin and hair. The thermoregulatory function is practically absent, but the excretory function is fully preserved. Sweating increases during illness and this odor causes healthy individuals to avoid contact with the sick.

The areas of the body where the glands are maximum are the corners of the mouth, the area of ​​​​the genitals and the anus. It is these areas that dogs sniff at when they meet. On the upper side of the base of the tail in dogs is the violet gland. The sweat and sebaceous glands in the skin of the prepuce add an extra odor to the urine. The glands in the skin of the vagina are strongly developed, their secretion increases with sexual maturity and reaches the epoch in estrus, so the marking behavior increases before it. Perianal glands - individual microflora gives a specific smell, and also lubricates the anus, facilitates emptying, attracts persons of the opposite sex, is used for marks. In the pack, the dominant male is engaged in marking the territory. Marks of individuals of one species can be understood by individuals of another species.

visual communication

A key role in visual communication is played by postures, movements, facial expressions - ritual forms of behavior that are important for maintaining hierarchy.

For example, in wolves, the key signal that turns off aggressive behavior is to turn one of the animals towards the opponent with an arched neck, exposing the most unprotected place - the jugular vein.

In dogs, this is a fall on the back with the stomach exposed. By facial expressions and postures, you can understand, for example, what mood the dog is in and what actions it will take:

ears forward, tail rigidly up, wings up, hair on end - the dog is self-confident, aggressive - the probable action is an attack;

ears forward, tail stiff, wings not tense, coat slightly raised - the dog is self-confident, calm at the moment, but at the slightest counter aggression, ready to attack;

ears forward, tail up and waving from side to side, wings are not tense, the coat lies smoothly - the dog is confident, in a friendly mood, play and petting are the most likely behavior;

ears back, tail wagging between paws, wings back, the dog bends down, freezes, the hair is not reared - the dog is frightened, most likely the dog will lie on its back and turn its belly;

ears back, wings back and up, tail between paws, hair on end - the dog is frightened, prefers to run away if possible, if not, attacks. The attack of such a frightened dog in a hopeless situation is the most furious and unpredictable. This also includes a bitch protecting the litter when she has no way to escape.

There can be many similar examples, and in a combination of various options, they will give a different effect. Dogs with late or no socialization do not receive the necessary training to understand the meaning of postures, movements, etc., and do not themselves know how to demonstrate their needs to relatives. Therefore, such dogs have problems when communicating with people around him and other dogs.

Acoustic communication

Sounds It is a medium for transmitting primarily emergency information. Range is determined by several factors:

signal intensity;

signal frequency;

acoustic properties of the environment;

animal's hearing threshold.

Canine sounds are divided into contact (growling - aggression, threat; whining, squealing - blocking aggression; snorting - alertness) and distant (barking, howling - the meaning is diverse depending on the strength, tone and frequency of the signal). In wolves, howling is used to exchange information between packs.

We are used to the fact that communication is primarily a language. What is language? Scientists were able to answer this question only after they explicitly asked it - and for this they had to go beyond everyday language experience. Accordingly, the definition of language is given not in linguistics - the science of language, but in semiotics - the science of signs and sign systems. And it is given using the concept of "sign", which should be given attention first of all.

A sign is not only a letter or number (but also a musical note, a road sign, or a military insignia). In addition to those listed, there are weather signs (they are often called signs or signs), and signs of attention rendered by one person to another, and even “signs of fate”. Obviously, the listed signs are united by the fact that they are:

1. by themselves, some perceived events or;

2. indicate other events or things;

3 are perceived.

Therefore, in order to assert the presence of a language in any animals, it is enough to find signs produced and perceived by them, which they are able to distinguish from each other.

The Soviet semiotician Yu. S. Stepanov expressed himself even more clearly: “Until now, the question of the “language of animals” has been raised one-sidedly. Meanwhile, from the point of view of semiotics, the question should not be posed in this way: “Is there a “language of animals” and in what way does it manifest itself”, but differently: the instinctive behavior of animals itself is a kind of language based on the sign of a lower order. In the range of linguistic or language-like phenomena, it is, in fact, nothing more than a “language of a weak degree”.

Definition of the concept of "Communication of animals"

Animal communication, biocommunication, connections between individuals of the same or different species, established by receiving the signals they produce. These signals (specific - chemical, mechanical, optical, acoustic, electrical, etc., or non-specific - associated with breathing, movement, nutrition, etc.) are perceived by the corresponding receptors: organs of vision, hearing, smell, taste, skin sensitivity, organs lateral line (in fish), thermo- and electroreceptors. The production (generation) of signals and their reception (reception) form communication channels (acoustic, chemical, etc.) between organisms for the transmission of information of various physical or chemical nature. Information coming through various communication channels is processed in different parts of the nervous system, and then compared (integrated) in its higher departments, where the body's response is formed. The communication of animals facilitates the search for food and favorable living conditions, protection from enemies and harmful influences. Without animal communication, it is impossible for individuals of different sexes to meet, the interaction of parents and offspring, the formation of groups (packs, herds, swarms, colonies, etc.) and the regulation of relations between individuals within them (territorial relations, hierarchy, etc.).

The role of one or another communication channel in animal communication in different species is not the same and is determined by the ecology and morpho-physiology of the species that have developed in the course of evolution, and also depends on changing environmental conditions, biological rhythms, etc. As a rule, animal communication is carried out using several communication channels. The most ancient and widespread communication channel is chemical. Some metabolic products released by an individual into the external environment can affect the "chemical" sense organs - smell and taste, and serve as regulators of the growth, development and reproduction of organisms, as well as signals that cause certain behavioral reactions of other individuals). Thus, the pheromones of males of some fish accelerate the maturation of females, synchronizing the reproduction of the population. Odorous substances released into the air or water, left on the ground or objects, mark the territory occupied by the animal, facilitate orientation and strengthen ties between members of the group (families, herds, swarms, flocks). Fish, amphibians, and mammals distinguish well the odors of individuals of their own and other species, and common group odors allow animals to distinguish "friends" from "strangers."

In the communication of aquatic animals, an important role is played by the perception by the organs of the lateral line of local movements of water. This type of distant mechanoreception allows you to detect an enemy or prey, maintain order in the pack. Tactile forms of animal communication (for example, mutual cleaning of plumage or fur) are important for the regulation of intraspecific relationships in some birds and mammals. Females and subordinate individuals usually clean dominant individuals (mainly adult males). In a number of electric fish, lampreys and hagfish, the electric field created by them serves to mark the territory, helps with close orientation and search for food. In "non-electric" fish in a flock, a common electric field is formed, which coordinates the behavior of individual individuals. The visual communication of animals, associated with the development of photosensitivity and vision, is usually accompanied by the formation of structures that acquire a signal value (color and color pattern, the contours of the body or its parts) and the emergence of ritual movements and facial expressions. This is how the process of ritualization takes place - the formation of discrete signals, each of which is associated with a specific situation and has some conditional meaning (threat, submission, appeasement, etc.), which reduces the danger of intraspecific collisions. Having found honey plants, bees are able, with the help of "dance", to convey to other foragers information about the location of the found food and the distance to it (works by the German physiologist K. Frisch). For many species, complete catalogs of their "language of postures, gestures and facial expressions" - the so-called. ethograms. These demonstrations are often characterized by masking or exaggeration of certain features of color and shape. The visual communication of animals plays a particularly important role among the inhabitants of open landscapes (steppes, deserts, tundra); its value is much less in aquatic animals and inhabitants of thickets.

Acoustic communication is most developed in arthropods and vertebrates. Its role as an effective method of remote signaling increases in the aquatic environment and in closed landscapes (forests, thickets). The development of animal sound communication depends on the state of other communication channels. In birds, for example, high acoustic abilities are inherent mainly in modestly colored species, while bright coloration and complex display behavior are usually combined with a low level of vocal communication. Differentiation of complex sound-reproducing formations in many insects, fish, amphibians, birds and mammals allows them to produce dozens of different sounds. The "lexicon" of songbirds includes up to 30 basic signals combined with each other, which dramatically increases the efficiency of biocommunication. The complex structure of many signals allows you to personally recognize the marriage and group partner. In a number of bird species, sound contact between parents and chicks is established when the chicks are still in the egg. Comparison of the variability of some characteristics of optical signaling in crabs and ducks and acoustic signaling in songbirds indicates a significant similarity between different types of signaling. Apparently, the throughputs of optical and acoustic channels are comparable to each other.

Animal language. Communication of different types of animals.

Since linguistic signs can be intentional (produced intentionally, based on knowledge of their semantic meanings) and non-intentional (produced unintentionally), this question needs to be specified, formulated as follows: do animals use intentional and non-intentional linguistic signs?

The question of non-intentional linguistic signs in animals is comparatively simple. Numerous studies of animal behavior have shown that non-intentional language is widespread in animals. Animals, especially the so-called social animals, communicate with each other by means of signs produced instinctively, without awareness of their semantic meanings and their communicative significance. Let's give some examples.

When we find ourselves in a forest or in a field in the summer, we involuntarily pay attention to the songs sung by insects (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.). Despite the apparent variety of these songs, naturalists, who spent many hours in observations that require perseverance and patience, were able to distinguish five main classes: the call song of the male, the call song of the female, the “seduction” song, which is performed only by the male, the threat song, to which the male comes running when he is close to the rival, and, finally, the song performed by the male or female when they are worried about anything. Each of the songs conveys certain information. Thus, the calling song indicates the direction in which to look for a male or female. When the female, attracted by the call song of the male, is close to him, the call song is replaced by the song of “seduction”. Birds emit especially many sound signals during the mating season. These signals warn the opponent that some territory is already occupied and that it is not safe for him to appear on it, call the female, express alarm, etc.

From the point of view of the preservation of offspring, “mutual understanding” between parents and children is of paramount importance. This is the sound signal. Parents notify the chicks of their return with food, warn them of the approach of the enemy, cheer them up before flying, call them to one place (call calls of the chicken).

Chicks, in turn, give signals, feeling hungry or experiencing fear.

The signals emitted by animals, in some cases, carry very precise, strictly defined information about reality. For example, if a seagull finds a small amount of food, it eats it itself without informing other seagulls about it; if there is a lot of food, the seagull attracts its relatives to it with a special appeal. Sentinels in birds do not just raise the alarm when an enemy appears: they are able to report which enemy is approaching and from where - from the ground or from the air. The distance to the enemy determines the degree of alarm expressed by the sound signal. So, the bird, which the British call the cat bird, emits short cries at the sight of the enemy, and at its direct approach, it begins to meow, like a cat (whence its name).

Apparently, among more or less developed animals there are none that would not resort to the help of linguistic signs. You can additionally point to the calls of male amphibians, to the distress signals that an amphibian seized by the enemy gives, to the “hunting signals” of wolves (a signal to collect, a call to go on a hot trail, hooting made at the direct perception of the pursued prey), to numerous signals used in herds of wild or semi-wild cattle, etc. Even fish, whose muteness is proverbial, communicate widely with each other by means of sound signals. These signals serve as a means of scaring off enemies and luring females. Recent studies have established that fish also use characteristic postures and movements as a communication tool (freezing in an unnatural position, circling in place, etc.).

However, the language of ants and the language of bees, of course, remains an example of non-intentional language.

Ants “talk” among themselves in a variety of ways: they secrete odorous substances that indicate the direction in which to go for prey; odorous substances are also a sign of alarm. Ants also use gestures along with touch. There is even reason to believe that they are capable of establishing biological radio communications. So, according to the experiments, the ants dug out their fellows, placed in iron cups with holes, while they did not pay attention to empty control cups and, most importantly, to lead cups filled with ants (lead, as you know, does not transmit radio emissions). ).

According to Professor P. Marikovsky, who studied the behavior of the red-breasted wood borer, one of the ant species, for several years, gestures and touches play the most important role in ant language. Professor Marikovsky managed to identify more than two dozen meaningful gestures. However, he managed to determine the meaning of only 14 signals. In explaining the essence of non-intentional language, we have already given examples of ant sign language. In addition to these, consider a few more cases of signaling used by ants.

If the insect that crawled or flew to the anthill is inedible, then the ant that first established this gives a signal to other ants, climbing onto the insect and jumping down from it. Usually one jump is enough, but if necessary, the jump is repeated many times, until the ants that have gone to the insect leave it alone. When meeting an enemy, the ant takes a threatening posture (rises itself and puts forward its abdomen), as if saying: “Beware!” etc.

There is no doubt that further observations of ants will lead to new, perhaps even more unexpected results that will help us understand the peculiar world of insects and uncover the secrets of their language.

Even more striking is the language of other social insects - bees. This language was first described by the eminent German animal psychologist Karl Frisch. The merits of K. Frisch in the study of the life of bees are well known. His success in this area was largely due to the development of a subtle technique that allowed him to trace the smallest shades of the behavior of bees.

We have already talked about the circle dance performed by the bees in the presence of a rich bribe somewhere in the vicinity of the hive. It turns out that this dance is only the simplest language sign. Bees resort to it in those cases when the bribe is closer than 100 meters from the hive. If the feeder was placed at a greater distance, the bees signaled about the bribe with the help of a wagging dance. When performing this dance, the bee runs in a straight line, then, returning to its original position, makes a semicircle to the left, then again runs in a straight line, but makes a semicircle to the right.

At the same time, in a straight section, the bee quickly wags its abdomen from side to side (hence the name of the dance). The dance can last for several minutes.

The wagging dance is most rapid when the bribe is within 100 meters of the hive. The farther the tricks, the slower the dance becomes, the less often the turns to the left and to the right are made. K. Frisch managed to identify a purely mathematical pattern. The number of straight runs made by a bee in a quarter of a minute is about nine ten when the feeder is located at a distance of 100 meters from the hive, about six for a distance of 500 meters, four five for a distance of 1000 meters, two for 5000 meters, and finally about one for distance of 10,000 meters.

Case b. The angle between the line connecting the hive to the feeder and the line from the hive to the sun is 180°. The rectilinear run in the wagging dance is made downward: the angle between the direction of the run and the upward direction is also 180°.

Case in. The angle between the line from the hive to the feeder and the line from the hive to the sun is 60°. The rectilinear run is performed in such a way that the angle between the run direction and the upward direction is equal to the same 60°, and, since the feeder was to the left of the “hive-sun” line, the run line also lies to the left of the upward direction.

With the help of dances, the bees inform each other not only about the presence of nectar and pollen in a certain place, but also at an angle of 30 °, to the left of the sun.

The languages ​​we have talked about so far are non-intentional languages. The meanings behind the units that make up such a language are neither concepts nor representations. These semantic meanings are not recognized. They are traces in the nervous system, always existing only at the physiological level. Animals resorting to non-intentional linguistic signs are not aware of their semantic meanings, nor of the circumstances under which these signs can be used, nor of the effect that they will produce on their relatives. The use of non-intentional linguistic signs is carried out purely instinctively, without the help of consciousness or understanding.

That is why non-intentional linguistic signs are used in strictly defined conditions. Departure from these conditions leads to a violation of the well-established mechanism of "speech". So, in one of his experiments, K. Frisch placed a feeder on the top of the radio tower - right above the hive. The nectar collectors who returned to the hive could not indicate the direction of search for other bees, because in their dictionary there is no sign assigned to the direction up (flowers do not grow at the top). They performed the usual circular dance, orienting the bees in search of a bribe around the hive on the ground. Therefore, none of the bees found a feeder. Thus, a system that worked flawlessly under familiar conditions immediately proved to be ineffective as soon as these conditions changed. When the feeder was removed from the radio mast and placed on the ground at a distance equal to the height of the tower, i.e., the usual conditions were restored, the system again showed its impeccable operation. In the same way, with a horizontal arrangement of honeycombs (which is achieved by turning the hive), a complete disorganization is observed in the dances of the bees, which disappears instantly when returning to familiar conditions. The described facts reveal one of the main shortcomings of the non-intentional language of insects - its inflexibility, being chained to strictly fixed circumstances, beyond which the mechanism of “speech” immediately breaks down.

AT one invertebrate.

Aquatic invertebrates communicate primarily through visual and auditory signals. bivalves, barnacles, and other similar invertebrates make sounds by opening and closing their shells or houses, and crustaceans such as spiny lobsters make loud scraping sounds by rubbing their antennae against their shells. Crabs warn or frighten off strangers by shaking their claws until it starts to crackle, and male crabs make this signal even when a person approaches. Due to the high sound conductivity of water, the signals emitted by aquatic invertebrates are transmitted over long distances.

Vision plays a significant role in the communication of crabs, lobsters, and other crustaceans. The brightly colored claws of male crabs attract females and at the same time warn rival males to keep their distance. Some types of crabs perform a mating dance, while they swing their large claws in a rhythm characteristic of this species. Many deep-sea marine invertebrates, such as the marine worm odontosyllis, have rhythmically flashing, luminous organs called photophores.

Some aquatic invertebrates, such as lobsters and crabs, have taste buds at the base of their feet, others do not have specialized olfactory organs, but most of their body surface is sensitive to the presence of chemicals in the water. Among aquatic invertebrates, ciliated ciliates (vorticella) and sea acorns use chemical signals; among European land snails, the grape snail (helix pomatia). Suvoys and barnacles simply secrete chemicals that attract members of their species, while snails thrust thin, dart-shaped "love arrows" into each other, these miniature formations contain a substance that prepares the recipient for the transfer of sperm.

A number of aquatic invertebrates, mainly some coelenterates (jellyfish), use tactile signals for communication: if one of the members of a large colony of coelenterates touches another, it immediately contracts, turning into a tiny ball. immediately all other individuals of the colony repeat the action of the reduced animal.

R fish.

Fish use at least three types of communication signals: auditory, visual, and chemical, often in combination. Fish make sounds by tapping their gill covers, and with the help of their swim bladder they make grunts and whistles. sound signals are used for flocking, as an invitation to breed, for territory defense, and as a way of recognition. Fish don't have eardrums and don't hear like humans. system of thin bones, so-called. Weberian apparatus transmits vibrations from the swim bladder to the inner ear. the range of frequencies that fish perceive is relatively narrow - most do not hear sounds above the upper “do” and best perceive sounds below “la” of the third octave.

Fish have good eyesight, but see poorly in the dark, such as in the depths of the ocean. Most fish perceive color to some extent - this is important during the mating season, since the bright color of individuals of the same sex, usually males, attracts individuals of the opposite sex. Color changes serve as a warning to other fish that they should not trespass. During the breeding season, some fish, such as the three-spined stickleback, arrange mating dances; others, such as catfish, show threat by turning their mouths wide open towards the intruder.

Fish, like insects and some other animals, use pheromones - chemical signaling substances. Catfish recognize individuals of their own species by tasting the substances they secrete, probably produced by the gonads or contained in the urine or mucous cells of the skin, the taste buds of catfish are located in the skin, and any of them can remember the taste of the pheromones of another if they have ever been near each other from friend. the next meeting of these fish may end in war or peace, depending on the relationship that has developed earlier.

Insects.

Insects are generally tiny creatures, but their social organization can rival that of human society. Communities of insects could never form, let alone survive, without communication between their members. communicating, insects use visual signals, sounds, touch and chemical signals, including taste stimuli and smells, and they are extremely sensitive to sounds and smells.

Insects, perhaps, were the first on land to make sounds, usually similar to tapping, clapping, scratching, etc. These noises are not distinguished by musicality, but they are produced by highly specialized organs. The sound signals of insects are affected by the intensity of light, the presence or absence of other insects nearby, and direct contact with them.

One of the most common sounds is stridulation, i.e., a chirping caused by rapid vibration or rubbing of one part of the body against another with a certain frequency and in a certain rhythm. Usually this happens according to the principle of "scraper - bow". at the same time, one leg (or wing) of the insect, which has 80–90 small teeth along the edge, quickly moves back and forth along the thickened part of the wing or other part of the body. locusts and grasshoppers use just such a chirring mechanism, while grasshoppers and trumpeters rub modified forewings against each other.

Male cicadas are distinguished by the loudest chirping: on the underside of the abdomen of these insects there are two membranous membranes - the so-called. timbal organs. - these membranes are equipped with muscles and can bend in and out, like the bottom of a tin can. when the muscles of the timbales contract rapidly, the pops or clicks coalesce to create an almost continuous sound.

Insects can produce sounds by banging their heads on a tree or leaves, their abdomens and forelegs on the ground. some species, such as the deadhead hawk hawk, have true miniature sound chambers and produce sounds by drawing air in and out through membranes in these chambers.

Many insects, especially flies, mosquitoes, and bees, make sounds in flight by the vibration of their wings; some of these sounds are used in communication. queen bees chirp and hum: the adult queen hums, and the immature queens chirp as they try to get out of their cells.

The vast majority of insects do not have a developed auditory apparatus and use antennas to capture sound vibrations passing through air, soil and other substrates. a more subtle distinction of sound signals is provided by tympanal organs similar to the ear (in moths, locusts, some grasshoppers, cicadas); hairy sensilla, consisting of bristles perceiving vibration on the surface of the body; chordotonal (string-like) sensilla located in various parts of the body; finally, specialized so-called. popliteal organs in the legs, perceiving vibration (in grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, bees, stoneflies, ants).

Many insects have two types of eyes - simple eyes and paired compound eyes, but in general their vision is poor, usually they can perceive only light and dark, but some, in particular bees and butterflies, are able to distinguish colors.

Visual signals serve a variety of functions: some insects use them for courtship and threats. Thus, in firefly beetles, luminescent flashes of cold yellow-green light, produced at a certain frequency, serve as a means of attracting individuals of the opposite sex. bees, having found a source of food, return to the hive and notify the rest of the bees of its location and remoteness with the help of special movements on the surface of the hive (the so-called bee dance).

The constant licking and sniffing of each other by ants indicates the importance of touch as one of the means that organizes these insects into a colony, similarly, by touching the abdomen of their "cows" (aphids) with antennae, ants inform them that they should secrete a drop of "milk" .

Pheromones are used as sex attractants and stimulants, as well as warning and trace substances by ants, bees, butterflies, including silkworms, cockroaches and many other insects. These substances, usually in the form of odorous gases or liquids, are secreted by special glands located in the mouth or abdomen of the insect. Some sex attractants (such as those used by moths) are so effective that they can be perceived by individuals of the same species at a concentration of only a few molecules per cubic centimeter of air.

W reptiles and reptiles.

The forms of communication between amphibians and reptiles are relatively simple. This is partly due to the underdeveloped brain, as well as the fact that these animals have no care for offspring.

Among amphibians, only frogs, toads, and tree frogs make loud noises; of the salamanders, some squeak or whistle softly, others have vocal folds and emit soft barks. the sounds made by amphibians can mean a threat, a warning, a call to breed, they can be used as a signal of trouble or as a means of protecting the territory. some species of frogs croak in groups of three, and a large choir may consist of several loud-voiced trios.

In the spring, during the breeding season, in many species of frogs and toads, the throat becomes brightly colored: often it becomes dark yellow, strewn with black spots, and usually in females its color is brighter than in males. some species use the seasonal coloration of the throat not only to attract a mate, but also as a visual signal that the territory is occupied.

Some toads, in defense, emit a highly acidic fluid produced by the parotid glands (one behind each eye). the Colorado toad can spray this poisonous liquid up to 3.6 m. At least one species of salamander uses a special "love potion" produced during the mating season by special glands located near the head.

Reptiles. some snakes hiss, others crackle, and in Africa and Asia there are snakes that chirp with the help of scales. Since snakes and other reptiles do not have external ear holes, they only feel the vibrations that pass through the soil. so the rattlesnake is unlikely to hear its own crackling.

Unlike snakes, tropical gecko lizards have external ear openings. Geckos click very loudly and make harsh sounds.

In the spring, male alligators roar, calling for females and scaring away other males. Crocodiles make loud alarm sounds when they are frightened, and hiss loudly, threatening a stranger invading their territory. Baby alligators squeak and croak hoarsely to get their mother's attention. The Galapagos giant, or elephant, tortoise makes a low, hoarse roar, and many other tortoises hiss menacingly.

Many reptiles drive away aliens of their own or other species that invade their territory, demonstrating threatening behavior - they open their mouths, inflate parts of their bodies (like a spectacled snake), beat their tails, etc. snakes have relatively poor eyesight, they see the movement of objects, and not their shape and coloration; species that hunt in open places are distinguished by sharper vision. some lizards, such as geckos and chameleons, perform ritual dances during courtship or sway in a peculiar way when moving.

The sense of smell and taste is well developed in snakes and lizards; in crocodiles and turtles it is comparatively weak. Rhythmically sticking out its tongue, the snake enhances the sense of smell, transferring odorous particles to a special sensory structure - located in the mouth of the so-called. Jacobson organ. some snakes, turtles, and alligators secrete a musky fluid as warning signals; others use scent as a sex attractant.

Birds.

Communication in birds is better studied than in any other animal. Birds communicate with individuals of their own species, as well as other species, including mammals and even humans. for this they use sound (not only voice), as well as visual signals. Thanks to the developed auditory apparatus, consisting of the outer, middle and inner ear, birds hear well. Voice apparatus of birds, so-called. The lower larynx, or syrinx, is located in the lower part of the trachea.

Flocking birds use more diverse sound and visual signals than solitary birds, which sometimes know only one song and repeat it over and over again. Flocking birds have signals that gather a flock, announcing danger, signals "everything is calm" and even calls for a meal.

Among the birds, it is predominantly males who sing, but more often not to attract females (as is usually believed), but to warn that the territory is under protection. Many songs are very intricate and provoked by the release of the male sex hormone testosterone in the spring. Most of the "talk" in birds takes place between the mother and the chicks, who beg for food, and the mother feeds them, warns or soothes them.

Bird singing is shaped by both genes and training. The song of a bird that has grown up in isolation is incomplete, that is, it is devoid of individual "phrases" sung by other birds.

A non-vocal sound signal - a wing drum beat - is used by a collared hazel grouse during the mating period to attract a female and warn competing males to stay away. One of the tropical manakins snaps its tail feathers like castanets during courtship. At least one bird, the African honeyguide, communicates directly with humans. The honeyguide feeds on beeswax, but cannot extract it from the hollow trees where the bees make their nests, repeatedly approaching the person, shouting loudly and then heading towards the tree with the bees, the honeyguide leads the person to their nest; after the honey is taken, it eats the remaining wax.

Males of many species of birds during the breeding season adopt complex signaling positions, clean their feathers, perform mating dances and perform various other actions accompanied by sound signals. Head and tail feathers, crowns and crests, even an apron-like arrangement of breast feathers are used by males to show readiness for mating. The obligatory love ritual of the wandering albatross is a complex mating dance performed jointly by the male and female.

The mating behavior of male birds sometimes resembles acrobatic stunts. So, the male of one of the species of birds of paradise does a real somersault: sitting on a branch in front of the female, tightly presses his wings to his body, falls from the branch, makes a complete somersault in the air and lands in his original position.

land mammals.

Terrestrial mammals have long been known to make mating calls and threat sounds, leave odor marks, sniff and caress each other tenderly.

In the communication of terrestrial mammals, information about emotional states - fear, anger, pleasure, hunger and pain - occupies quite a lot of space. However, this is far from exhausting the content of communications, even in animals that do not belong to primates. Animals wandering in groups, through visual signals, maintain the integrity of the group and warn each other of danger; bears within their territory peel off the bark on tree trunks or rub against them, thus informing about the size of their body and gender; skunks and a number of other animals secrete odorous substances for protection or as sexual attractants; male deer arrange ritual tournaments to attract females during the rut; wolves express their attitude with an aggressive growl or friendly tail wagging; seals on rookeries communicate with the help of calls and special movements; angry bear coughs menacingly.

Mammalian communication signals have been developed for communication between individuals of the same species, but often these signals are perceived by individuals of other species that are nearby. In Africa, the same spring is sometimes used for watering at the same time by different animals, such as wildebeest, zebra and waterbuck. If a zebra, with its acute hearing and sense of smell, senses the approach of a lion or other predator, its actions inform the neighbors in the watering place about this, and they react accordingly. in this case interspecies communication takes place.

Man uses the voice to communicate to an immeasurably greater extent than any other primate. For greater expressiveness, words are accompanied by gestures and facial expressions. other primates use signal postures and movements in communication much more often than we do, and voice much less often. These components of primate communication behavior are not innate; animals learn different ways of communicating as they grow older.

Raising young in the wild is based on imitation and stereotyping; they are looked after most of the time and punished when necessary; they learn about what is edible by watching mothers and learn gestures and vocal communication mostly through trial and error. Assimilation of communicative stereotypes of behavior is a gradual process. The most interesting features of the communicative behavior of primates are easier to understand when considering the circumstances in which different types of signals are used - chemical, tactile, auditory and visual.

Chemical signals are most often used by those primates that are potential victims and occupy a limited territory. The sense of smell is of particular importance for tree-dwelling primitive nocturnal primates (prosimians) such as the tupai and lemurs. Tupai mark their territory with the secretion of glands located in the skin of the throat and chest; in some lemurs, such glands are located in the armpits and even on the forearms; moving, the animal leaves its smell on the plants, other lemurs use urine and feces for this purpose.

The higher apes, like humans, do not have a developed olfactory system, in addition, only a few of them have skin glands specially designed to produce signaling substances.

Tactile signals. Touch and other bodily contact - tactile signals - are widely used by monkeys when communicating. Langurs, baboons, gibbons, and chimpanzees often hug each other in a friendly manner, and a baboon may lightly touch, push, pinch, bite, sniff, or even kiss another baboon as a sign of genuine sympathy. When two chimpanzees meet for the first time, they may gently touch the stranger's head, shoulder, or thigh.

Monkeys constantly sort out wool - they clean each other (this behavior is called grooming), which serves as a manifestation of true closeness, intimacy. Grooming is especially important in primate groups where social dominance is maintained, such as rhesus monkeys, baboons, and gorillas. in such groups, the subordinate individual often communicates, by smacking his lips loudly, that she wants to clean another, occupying a higher position in the social hierarchy.

The sounds produced by marmosets and great apes are comparatively simple. For example, chimpanzees often scream and squeal when they are frightened or angry, and these are indeed elementary signals. However, they also have an amazing noise ritual: from time to time they gather in the forest and drum with their hands on protruding tree roots, accompanying these actions with screams, squeals and howls. this drum-singing festival can last for hours and can be heard at least one and a half kilometers away, there is reason to believe that in this way chimpanzees call their brethren to places abounding in food.

Gorillas have long been known to beat their chests. In fact, these are not punches, but slaps with half-bent palms on a swollen chest, since the gorilla first gains a full chest of air. Slaps inform group members that an outsider, and possibly an enemy, is nearby; at the same time they serve as a warning and a threat to the stranger. Chest beating is just one of a series of such actions, which also include sitting upright, tilting the head to the side, screaming, grunting, standing up, picking and scattering plants. Fully such actions are entitled to carry out only the dominant male - the leader of the group; subordinate males and even females perform parts of the repertoire. Gorillas, chimpanzees and baboons grumble and make barking sounds, and gorillas also roar in warning and threat.

visual signals. Gestures, facial expressions, and sometimes also the position of the body and the color of the muzzle are the main visual signals of higher apes. Among the threatening signals are unexpected jumping to their feet and pulling their heads into their shoulders, slamming their hands on the ground, violent shaking of trees and random scattering of stones. Showing off the bright color of the muzzle, the African mandrill tames subordinates. In a similar situation, a proboscis monkey from the island of Borneo displays its huge nose.

A gaze in a baboon or gorilla means a threat, in a baboon it is accompanied by frequent blinking, moving the head up and down, flattening the ears and arching the eyebrows. To maintain order in the group, dominant baboons and gorillas now and then cast icy gazes at females, cubs and subordinate males. When two unfamiliar gorillas suddenly come face to face, a closer look can be a challenge. At first, there is a roar, two mighty animals retreat, and then sharply approach each other, bowing their heads forward. stopping just before contact, they begin to stare into each other's eyes until one of them retreats. Real contractions are rare.

Signals such as grimacing, yawning, moving the tongue, flattening the ears, and smacking the lips can be either friendly or unfriendly. so, if the baboon lays down his ears, but does not accompany this action with a direct look or blinking, his gesture means submission.

Chimpanzees use a rich facial expression to communicate. For example, tightly clenched jaws with exposed gums mean a threat; frown - intimidation; a smile, especially with a tongue hanging out, is friendliness; pulling back the lower lip until the teeth and gums show - a peaceful smile; by pouting, a mother chimpanzee expresses her love for her cub; repeated yawning means confusion or embarrassment. Chimpanzees often yawn when they notice that someone is watching them.

Some primates use their tails to communicate. For example, the male lemur rhythmically moves his tail before mating, and the female langur lowers her tail to the ground when the male approaches her. In some primate species, subordinate males raise their tails when approached by a dominant male, indicating their belonging to a lower social rank.

Sound signals. Interspecific communication is widespread among primates. Langurs, for example, closely follow the alarm calls and movements of peacocks and deer. Grassland animals and baboons respond to each other's warning calls, so predators have little chance of surprise attacks.

AT one mammal.

Sounds as signals. Aquatic mammals, like terrestrial ones, have ears consisting of an external opening, a middle ear with three auditory ossicles, and an inner ear connected to the brain by the auditory nerve. hearing in marine mammals is excellent, it is also helped by the high sound conductivity of water.

Seals are among the noisiest aquatic mammals. During the breeding season, females and young seals howl and low, and these sounds are often drowned out by the barks and roars of males. Males roar mainly to mark territory, in which each gathers a harem of 10–100 females. Voice communication in females is not so intense and is primarily associated with mating and caring for offspring.

Whales constantly make sounds such as clicks, creaks, sighs in low tones, as well as something like the creak of rusty hinges and muffled thumps. it is believed that many of these sounds are nothing more than echolocation used to detect food and navigate underwater. they can also be a means of maintaining group integrity.

Among aquatic mammals, the bottlenose dolphin (tursiops truncatus) is the undisputed champion in emitting sound signals. The sounds made by dolphins are described as moaning, squeaking, whining, whistling, barking, screeching, meowing, creaking, clicking, chirping, grunting, piercing screams, as well as reminiscent of the noise of a motor boat, the creak of rusty hinges, etc. these sounds consisting of a continuous series of vibrations at frequencies ranging from 3,000 to over 200,000 hertz, they are produced by blowing air through the nasal passage and two valve-like structures within the blowhole. The sounds are modified by the increase and decrease in the tension of the nasal valves and by the movement of "tongues" or "plugs" located within the airways and blowhole. the sound produced by dolphins, similar to the creaking of rusty hinges, is a “sonar”, a kind of echolocation mechanism. By constantly sending these sounds and receiving their reflection from underwater rocks, fish and other objects, dolphins can easily move even in complete darkness and find fish.

Dolphins certainly communicate with each other. When a dolphin emits a short dull whistle followed by a high pitched and melodic whistle, it means a distress signal and other dolphins immediately come to the rescue. The cub always responds to the whistle addressed to him by his mother. When angry, dolphins "bark" and the yapping sound made only by males is believed to attract females.

visual signals. Visual cues are not essential in the communication of aquatic mammals. In general, their vision is not sharp and is also hampered by the low transparency of ocean water. It is worth mentioning one of the examples of visual communication: the hooded seal has an inflated muscular pouch above its head and muzzle. when threatened, the seal quickly inflates the sack, which turns bright red. This is accompanied by a deafening roar, and the trespasser (if not human) usually retreats.

Some aquatic mammals, especially those that spend part of their time on land, engage in demonstrative acts of territorial defense and reproduction. With these few exceptions, visual communication is little used.

Olfactory and tactile signals. Olfactory signals probably do not play an important role in the communication of aquatic mammals, serving only for the mutual identification of parents and young in those species that spend a significant part of their lives on rookeries, such as seals. Whales and dolphins seem to have a heightened sense of taste to help determine whether or not to eat fish they catch.

In aquatic mammals, tactile organs are distributed throughout the skin, and the sense of touch, which is especially important during periods of courtship and care for offspring, is well developed. So, during the mating season, a pair of sea lions often sits facing each other, intertwining their necks and caressing each other for hours.

Methods for studying animal communication.

Ideally, animal communication should be studied in natural settings, but for many species (especially mammals), this is difficult to do due to the secretive nature of animals and their constant movement. In addition, many animals are nocturnal. birds are often frightened by the slightest movement or even just the sight of a person, as well as warning cries and actions of other birds. Laboratory studies of animal behavior provide a lot of new information, but animals in captivity behave differently than in the wild. They even develop neuroses and often stop reproductive behavior.

Any scientific problem requires, as a rule, the use of methods of observation and experiment, both of which are best carried out under controlled laboratory conditions, however, laboratory conditions are not quite suitable for studying communication, as they limit the freedom of action and reactions of the animal.

In field studies, hiding places from bushes and branches are used to observe some mammals and birds. A person in hiding can mask their scent with a few drops of skunk fluid or other strong-smelling substance.

Taking pictures of animals requires good cameras and especially telephoto lenses, but the noise the camera makes can scare the animal away. To study sound signals, a sensitive microphone and sound recording equipment are used, as well as a disc-shaped parabolic reflector made of metal or plastic, which focuses sound waves on a microphone placed in its center. After recording, sounds that the human ear cannot hear can be detected. some sounds made by animals lie in the ultrasonic range; they can be heard by playing the tape at a slower speed than when recording. this is especially useful when studying sounds made by birds.

With the help of a sound spectrograph, a graphic recording of sound is obtained, a “voice print”, by “dissecting” the sound spectrogram, it is possible to identify various components of a bird’s call or sounds of other animals, compare mating calls, calls for food, threat sounds or warnings and other signals.

Under laboratory conditions, the behavior of fish and insects is mainly studied, although a lot of information has also been obtained about mammals and other animals. Dolphins rather quickly get used to open laboratories - swimming pools, dolphinariums, etc. Laboratory computers “remember” the sounds of insects, fish, dolphins and other animals and make it possible to identify stereotypes of communicative behavior.

Thus, the complex of signal structures and behavioral responses during which they are demonstrated forms a signal system specific for each species.

In the studied fish species, the number of specific signals of the species code ranges from 10 to 26, in birds - from 14 to 28, in mammals - from 10 to 37. Phenomena similar to ritualization can also take shape in the evolution of interspecific communication.

As a defense against predators looking for prey by smell, frightening odors and inedible tissues are developed in prey species, and a frightening coloration (Protective color and shape) is developed to protect against predators who use sight when hunting.

If a person learned to communicate with animals, this would bring many benefits: for example, we could receive from dolphins and whales information about the life of the sea, inaccessible or at least difficult to access for humans.

By studying the communication systems of animals, humans can better imitate the visual and auditory signals of birds and mammals. Such imitation has already been beneficial, allowing the study animals to be lured into their natural habitats, as well as repelling pests. alarm cries recorded on tape are played through loudspeakers to scare away starlings, gulls, crows, rooks and other birds that damage plantings and crops, and synthesized sex attractants of insects are used to lure insects into traps. studies of the structure of the "ear", located on the front legs of the grasshopper, made it possible to improve the design of the microphone.