Elephants seem to invent names for each other

Elephants may be the only animals besides humans to come up with arbitrary names for each other, according to an analysis of recordings using machine learning. The analysis found that some calls from African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) seem to contain name-like components specific to certain individuals. What's more, those individuals know their names, responding more strongly than others do when calls addressed to them are played back on a speaker. "I had noticed from years back that when an elephant gave a contact rumble, within a group of elephants I would see one individual lift its head, listen and give an answer," says Joyce Poole at ElephantVoices, a small organisation that studies elephants and aims to protect them. "And the rest seemed to just ignore the elephant. So I did wonder whether the calls were being directed toward a specific individual."