>did we descend from the dolphins?
^^^^^^^
I sure hope not, I can hardly hold by breath more than 30 seconds and
even with scuba gear, I believe that dolphins can get deeper than us
pseudo-fish types!! Better make that ascend! _O-)
Actually there is one more snippet of research that suggest similar
capabilities between dolphin's and humans. Researchers at Marine World
theme park near San Francisco have been attempting to get dolphins to
adopt particular whistles for new toys that are introduced into their
tank. The new whistles are constructed using sound generators that
combine other dolphin sounds into new and unique arrangments.
Unfortunately, I've forgotten the name of the research team, but to their
consternation and delight, the dolphins started attempting to mimic the
sound - but poorly (just as young children mumble "proto-words" before
gaining full speech.) Eventually, the dolphin completely mastered the
synthetic whistle and would use that whistle only when the toy in
question was in the pool.
While it doesn't crack the "grammar" of dolphin communication - it
clearly demonstrates that dolphins have some sort of semantic (meaning
system), and that their system is extensible.
More food for thought as you all vacation on the beach,
Peace, Edouard
. - - - . . . - - - . . . - - - . . . - - - . . . - - - .
: Edouard Lagache, Lecturer :
: Department of Communication (0503) :
: University of California, San Diego :
: 9500 Gilman Drive :
: La Jolla, CA, 92093-0503 Voice: (619) 534-7192 :
: elagache who-is-at netcom.com FAX: (619) 534-7315 :
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:...................................................................:
: I flew soundlessly in exharating flight and the heard the sounds :
: of the seas, felt it's deep rhythms listened to my own rhythms. :
: . . . The oceans breathed a life into me that could have never :
: conjured up on my own, and will forever be in its debt :
: Carlos Eyles, _Solo Diving_, 1991 :
. - - - . . . - - - . . . - - - . . . - - - . . . - - - .