“This could be the first conclusive proof that killer whales pick up sounds by imitating vocalizations, which could account for the dialects seen in populations of wild orcas,” Call added.
Are Orcas Really Able to “Speak”? Researchers warn against taking imitation as real speech despite the progress.
Wikie is not “speaking English,” Call underlined, and there is no proof that she comprehends the meaning of the phrases she imitates.
Leading Harvard University parrot cognition specialist Dr. Irene Pepperberg called the research “exciting,” but also pointed out a drawback. She proposed that a more rigorous test would.
Be to see if people could correctly categorize the orca’s noises without having access to the original models for comparison. Other Animals That Can Spoken Like.
