In a groundbreaking study published last month, researchers showed that elephants have unique names for one another. Now, in a follow-up, they’ve also showed that elephants use verbs. “If they are using noun-verb combinations together, that is syntax. That is language,” the lead author says.

In the vast landscapes of Etosha National Park, Namibia, most animals keep an eye out for bull elephants. From 2005 to 2017, another group was also tuning in, listening to every sound the elephants would make. This was a human group led by Caitlin E. O’Connell-Rodwell at Stanford University. They used high-tech devices like buried microphones and night-vision cameras to capture the vocalizations of elephants — including infrasonic vocalizations that are inaudible to our human ears.

During the study, the team recorded the vocalizations and behavioral data of known male elephants at the Mushara waterhole, where the group would gather to drink water and cool down. They documented individuals producing calls, the structure of each individual’s calls, and the order in which these calls were made.

After some time of observing, a pattern emerged.

The elephants would often gather in the evening to drink. A senior male would lift his head, gently flap his ears, and then let out a deep rumble. After a few moments, the other elephants would start responding, creating a deep, infrasonic chorus that spread across the savanna. All the elephants got the memo: it’s time to go.

That deep rumble can be translated as “let’s go”.

Can you speak elephant?

Elephants have a matriarchal society. Elephant females live together with their young in tight-knit groups led by a single matriarch. Males typically leave the group when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males.

“We were astonished to find that male elephants, typically considered to have loose social ties, engage in such sophisticated vocal coordination to trigger action,” said study lead author Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell, a research associate at Stanford University’s Center for Conservation Biology. “These calls show us that there’s much more going on within their vocal communication than has previously been known.”

O’Connell-Rodwell first suspected the “let’s go” rumble in 2004 when conducting fieldwork at night. “I was so excited when I managed to record it,” she recalled. “It was thrilling to realize that these males were using complex vocal coordination like the females were.”

To confirm the findings, the researchers utilized a tall research tower and recorded their vocalizations using advanced audio equipment. They identified individual elephants based on unique physical characteristics such as ear tear patterns and tusk shapes. The elephants were also categorized into age classes, with the majority of vocal participants being mature adults.

The vocalizations were analyzed using specialized software to determine the unique acoustic properties of each call. This analysis helped to distinguish between the calls of different individuals and clarified the structure of the “let’s go” rumbles. The study included a detailed examination of the social networks and dominance hierarchies among the male elephants, providing insights into the roles of different individuals in the vocal coordination process.

Elephant language

Researchers believe males learn this from their mothers and other females when they’re young.

“They grew up in a family where all the female leaders were engaging in this ritual,” O’Connell-Rodwell said. “We think that as they mature and form their own groups, they adapt and use these learned behaviors to coordinate with other males.”

For both the male and the female calls, the calls follow a very structured order. There is one initiating rumble and then each call is followed by the next individual’s rumble, the elephants patiently waiting for the preceding call to finish before starting their own. This is harmonious and almost akin to a barbershop quartet, O’Connell-Rodwell said.

“It’s very synchronized and ritualized. When one goes high, the other goes low, and they have this vocal space where they’re coordinating,” she explained.

But it gets more interesting. This isn’t just a random call — it’s a sign that elephants really do have a language. “If they are using noun-verb combinations together, that is syntax. That is language.”

“Our findings not only underscore the complexity and richness of the social lives of male elephants,” O’Connell-Rodwell said, “but also advance our understanding of how they use vocalizations in ritual and coordination and, really, move us closer to the idea of elephant language.”

Important for elephant conservation

The study is also important for protecting elephants in the wild.

The use of coordinated vocalizations among bonded males suggests a more complex social structure than previously understood. These findings have significant implications for elephant conservation, as they highlight the importance of social bonds and communication in maintaining group cohesion and facilitating movement. If group cohesion is damaged (say, if one individual is killed), this could have cascading impacts on the rest of the group.

This suggests potential advantages of maintaining group integrity among male elephants. For instance, coordinated departures may help reduce competition over resources like water and enhance the overall survival of the group. Understanding these social behaviors is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies that consider the social needs and communication systems of elephants.

The more we look into it, the more we realize plenty of animals exhibit different types of complex communication. Elephants, in particular, exhibit remarkable intelligence and social sophistication. By continuing to study and protect these animals, we can improve our understanding (and hopefully, our appreciation) of them even more.

The findings of the study are detailed in the open-access journal PeerJ.