Every animal has a way of communicating with others of its species to find food, for defense, or for mating. Each animal’s design includes a unique method of communication, and some of the methods are astounding. One of those is the elephant communication system. Recent studies show that African elephants engage in a type of communication previously unknown in nonhuman animals.
Elephants can hear sounds that humans cannot hear. Physics books tell us that humans can hear sounds between 20 hertz (cycles per second) and 20,000 hertz. This varies from person to person, with smaller humans hearing higher frequencies but not hearing lower ones and vice-versa for larger humans. In my physics classroom, I demonstrated this by producing frequencies between 20 and 20,000 hertz and noting that different students heard different sounds – sometimes painfully. I rarely had a student who could hear 20 hertz. Elephants can hear sounds as low as 5 hertz.
How does this low-frequency ability affect the elephant’s communication system? High-frequency sounds do not travel very far. Some bird species use high frequencies for a wide range of communications, but the sound travels only short distances. The low frequency of an elephant can travel over 1.5 miles. Elephant herds frequently split up to find food or water, and they convey their location to other groups from a distance.
The aspect of the elephant communication system that was previously unknown in animals is that they can attach vocal labels, similar to names, to individual elephants. They use a specific low-frequency sound to address a specific elephant. Their communication is so fine-tuned that they can send out a sound that only one elephant in a nearby herd responds to. Other elephants in both herds continue grazing and ignore the message.
The design of the elephant communication system is incredible and unique. Researchers are studying their apparatus to hear and send sounds, leading to a new understanding of how all animals communicate. Romans 1:20 tells us, “We can know there is a God through the things He has made.” Elephants and their communication system testify to that fact.
— John N. Clayton © 2024
Reference: “Elephants Call Their Relatives By Name Across the Savanna” in the September 2024 issue of Scientific American