0:00:01 > 0:00:04BOTH: We are Dr Chris and Dr Xand van Tulleken.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06And we're tracking down the most awesome...
0:00:06 > 0:00:07Incredible...
0:00:07 > 0:00:12- BOTH:- ..and epic things in the universe!
0:00:21 > 0:00:25BOTH: Come with us and discover unbelievable things that will...
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Blow Your Mind will be bringing you all the top experts
0:00:31 > 0:00:36on the planet, from icebergs to elephants, spaceships to sharks.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Look at that.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41And this week it's all about amazing animals.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44So, hold on to your brains, here's what's coming up.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48You won't believe what we have to show you today.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Elephants talking to each other,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53dolphins singing to each other,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55and a deadly dino-dolphin!
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Now, Chris, you know the story of Dr Dolittle?
0:00:59 > 0:01:01- Yeah, the guy who could talk to the animals.- Exactly.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Well, today, we're going to be finding out that animals can
0:01:03 > 0:01:06actually use a kind of language of their own to communicate with
0:01:06 > 0:01:09one another, but first of all, I want Chris to help me
0:01:09 > 0:01:11with a scientific experiment.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13- OK, Chris, can you do a chimpanzee noise?- Yeah.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Ooh, ah, ah, ah, ah!
0:01:16 > 0:01:18That's good. OK, what about a dolphin?
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Ch-h-h! Ch-h-h-h-h!
0:01:22 > 0:01:24OK, that's good.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27OK, and finally, I want you to do an elephant.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29HE CLUCKS LIKE A CHICKEN
0:01:30 > 0:01:34Now, scientifically, this isn't actually any use at all,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37- but it is making Chris look like a bit of an idiot.- What?
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Chris Packham, on the other hand, has actually been
0:01:40 > 0:01:44finding out that elephants can recognise each other by their calls.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Take a look at this.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53This is the Amboseli National Park in Kenya, which is home
0:01:53 > 0:01:57to some of the most social animals on the planet.
0:01:57 > 0:01:58Elephants.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Not only are elephants extremely intelligent,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06they're also very noisy, using over a dozen different
0:02:06 > 0:02:10types of call to communicate with each other.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13DEEP RUMBLING AND GROWLING
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Karen McComb is a professor of animal behaviour
0:02:18 > 0:02:21from the University of Sussex.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25The elephants here are the most studied anywhere in the world.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28The thing about this park that's outstanding
0:02:28 > 0:02:30is the visibility of the elephants,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33the population, more than 1,000 elephants
0:02:33 > 0:02:35which we know individually.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Karen studies a special part of elephant language -
0:02:40 > 0:02:42their contact calls.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46These great noises allow elephants to keep in contact with one another
0:02:46 > 0:02:50over long distances, even when they can't see each other.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Karen wants to find out if elephants can easily
0:02:53 > 0:02:57recognise each other just by the sound of their contact call.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01She's made a library of these calls.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Some recordings are of elephants familiar to the group,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06but some are strangers.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Chris and Karen are going to use a giant speaker
0:03:09 > 0:03:12to test the elephants.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16So, Karen, exactly which call are we going to play to these animals?
0:03:16 > 0:03:19Erm, here we're playing the call of a genuine stranger,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22so an individual that they, erm, won't have encountered.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27- So they've never heard this call before?- Er, no, not in this case.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30And we're expecting them, therefore, to respond
0:03:30 > 0:03:33with a mixture of curiosity and alarm, I take it.
0:03:33 > 0:03:34Yeah, for sure.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41CHRIS PACKHAM: 'The reaction of the herd to the call can be very subtle.'
0:03:42 > 0:03:46'Karen thinks our best chance is to observe the matriarch,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48'the female leader of the herd.'
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Right, you give me the shout and I'll hit the play button then.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56- It's all set up, isn't it? - Yep, so go.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02ELEPHANT CALL RUMBLES
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Listening.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11What do you think?
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Well, the matriarch is listening,
0:04:13 > 0:04:18you can see she's holding her ears out a little bit from the head.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19She turned round, didn't she?
0:04:19 > 0:04:23- She definitely stopped what she was doing and turned round.- Yep.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26- So she heard it, there's no question about that.- Yep.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Those on the left hand side are walking away, aren't they?
0:04:29 > 0:04:32There is a bit of defensiveness here.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35There was bunching up within the group.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44'The reaction to a stranger's call is even stronger with this larger herd
0:04:44 > 0:04:47'that Karen's also filmed in Amboseli.'
0:04:47 > 0:04:49ELEPHANT CALL RUMBLES
0:04:51 > 0:04:55'Again they bunch up defensively, something they wouldn't do
0:04:55 > 0:04:59'if they'd heard a call made by an elephant that they knew well.'
0:05:01 > 0:05:04'Karen has discovered that the matriarchs are the best ones
0:05:04 > 0:05:08'when it comes to identifying the calls of different elephants.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12'This allows them to quickly distinguish between friend and foe.'
0:05:15 > 0:05:18So it is amazing that elephants can recognise each other
0:05:18 > 0:05:19just by the sound of their call.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23If you imagine yourself in a stadium with thousands of people,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25and you knew just a few of them, trying to pick out those people
0:05:25 > 0:05:29if they shouted just "Xand" at you would be really difficult.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30Yeah, it would be difficult,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34and what's interesting is it seems to be the older, wiser female
0:05:34 > 0:05:37leaders of the group that are best at recognising those calls.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39So they've actually been remembering,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42learning those different calls throughout their entire lives.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44So it's true what they say, elephants do have a really good memory.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Yeah, that does seem to be true.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49But if you think it's impressive that elephants can do that,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52wait till you see the next animal, Delphinus capensis.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54That's dolphins to you and me.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59This time, Chris has gone to Florida to meet Vincent Janik,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01who studies dolphins in the wild.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08He's researching the sounds that dolphins make to communicate,
0:06:08 > 0:06:11and he's using a brand new piece of cool kit to study them.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14We're going out today to try to find wild dolphins
0:06:14 > 0:06:16and attach tags to them,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18which are little recording tags that can give us
0:06:18 > 0:06:21information about the sounds that they're making and also give us
0:06:21 > 0:06:24information about the behaviour, erm, as they're in the bay,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26in their own wild environment.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33CHRIS PACKHAM: 'A dolphin's been captured in shallow water,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37'and the team works rapidly to minimise any distress to the animal.'
0:06:39 > 0:06:42'Until now, it's been almost impossible to gather useful
0:06:42 > 0:06:47'sound recordings of wild dolphins, for the simple reason that when
0:06:47 > 0:06:52'they're in a group, you can't tell which one is making which sound.'
0:06:54 > 0:06:58'Vincent's neat solution is to attach a recording device -
0:06:58 > 0:07:00'it has suckers - to the animal's head.'
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Nicholas! Nicholas!
0:07:07 > 0:07:12'It will now record all the sounds and all the calls made by this
0:07:12 > 0:07:16'individual dolphin whilst also keeping a record of its movements.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20'In addition, the device transmits a signal
0:07:20 > 0:07:25'so the team can track the animal and recover the unique data at the end.'
0:07:31 > 0:07:33'The dolphin's released.'
0:07:34 > 0:07:36WATER SPLASHES
0:07:43 > 0:07:45'This is all part of a bigger programme.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47'Several dolphins are tagged.'
0:07:49 > 0:07:53'At the same time, the scientists are constantly observing them,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56'so later they can match their behaviour
0:07:56 > 0:07:58'to the sounds they're making.'
0:08:04 > 0:08:08'The device here measures the distance between the dolphins.'
0:08:15 > 0:08:17What's going on over there?
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Lots of splashing, I think I saw a dorsal fin. Right behind...
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Yeah, two dolphins.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Is that dolphin swimming around with a sucker on its head?
0:08:27 > 0:08:29That's right, the device is listening to
0:08:29 > 0:08:31what the dolphin's saying.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I bet it's saying, "I look stupid with this thing on my head!"
0:08:34 > 0:08:36I don't think it's quite that precise.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38No, but, I mean, the dolphin has to swim around with
0:08:38 > 0:08:41- this thing on its head for ever, that can't be good.- Don't worry, Chris,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44those clever scientists have thought of everything.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50CHRIS PACKHAM: 'They've now been tracking the dolphins for six hours.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53'The recorder then automatically detaches itself
0:08:53 > 0:08:56'from the animal captured earlier, and the team retrieve it.'
0:08:59 > 0:09:02'Back at base, the sounds can then be analysed.'
0:09:05 > 0:09:07WHISTLING AND CLICKING
0:09:07 > 0:09:11'At first listen, it's an absolute cacophony.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14'A whole range of dolphin clicks, whistles and pulses.'
0:09:18 > 0:09:21'Half of these sounds are not relevant to the study,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24'they're used by dolphins to find their way around -
0:09:24 > 0:09:26'the echo location clicks.'
0:09:26 > 0:09:28RAPID CLICKING
0:09:28 > 0:09:31'But Vincent's interested in these other ones -
0:09:31 > 0:09:33'the communication calls -
0:09:33 > 0:09:35'and one of them in particular.'
0:09:35 > 0:09:38SHORT HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLES
0:09:43 > 0:09:48'Every whistle is unique to each dolphin, just like a name.'
0:09:49 > 0:09:52'And these are the only mammals apart from humans
0:09:52 > 0:09:55'to have this type of personalised call.'
0:09:57 > 0:10:00'And yet the whistle is not fixed.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02'If male dolphins change their alliances
0:10:02 > 0:10:05'they can alter their signature whistle.'
0:10:07 > 0:10:11'We all know what these sinister notes mean.'
0:10:11 > 0:10:13MUSIC: "Theme from Jaws" by John Williams
0:10:16 > 0:10:18'And we also know what this is telling us.'
0:10:18 > 0:10:21MUSIC: "The Wedding March"
0:10:21 > 0:10:25'But, critically, we don't need a language to understand them.'
0:10:29 > 0:10:32'And Vincent believes the calls of dolphins could be
0:10:32 > 0:10:35'a completely different type of communication,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38'as different from language as music is.'
0:10:39 > 0:10:41So dolphins have learned to communicate
0:10:41 > 0:10:44using their own form of language, and it isn't like human words,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46it's more like musical notes.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48It's as if each dolphin has its own theme tune?
0:10:48 > 0:10:51That's right, so you'd know exactly who I was if I did this.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53HE SINGS JAMES BOND THEME
0:10:53 > 0:10:57- You'd be a sort of lame James Bond. - OK, what about this then?
0:10:57 > 0:10:59HE SINGS INDIANA JONES THEME
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Yeah, a kind of out-of-tune Indiana Jones, yeah.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04All right, what do you think my theme tune should be then?
0:11:04 > 0:11:07If I was going to write a theme tune for you it'd be something like...
0:11:07 > 0:11:09HE SINGS WIMPY MELODY # La, la, la-la-la. #
0:11:09 > 0:11:11- Like that. - I quite like that, actually.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13Well, what I want to know is, if dolphins have learned
0:11:13 > 0:11:16to communicate in this way, how did they do it?
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Well, scientists think it's got something to do
0:11:19 > 0:11:21with the evolution of their brains.
0:11:21 > 0:11:22Check out this monster.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31This is a recreation of basilosaurus,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35an ancestor of modern dolphins from 36 million years ago.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43It was a solitary hunter, ferocious enough to take on sharks.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52But when scientists studied the brains of these giant creatures
0:11:52 > 0:11:53they were surprised -
0:11:53 > 0:11:56they had gigantic bodies but quite small brains.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Two million years later, drastic changes took place.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09This is a recreation of dorudon, another dolphin ancestor.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Because it has a far smaller body size, the brain of dorudon
0:12:13 > 0:12:17was almost twice as powerful as that of basilosaurus.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Around the same time, it's thought these ancient sea mammals
0:12:20 > 0:12:24stopped living alone and began to live in groups.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Smaller dolphin ancestors like dorudon were forced to
0:12:27 > 0:12:30group together to be able to defend themselves better
0:12:30 > 0:12:31because they were smaller.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Scientists think that, as they became more and more social,
0:12:35 > 0:12:36their brain size increased.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Which means that, amazingly, for over 30 million years
0:12:45 > 0:12:47until early humans came on the scene,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51these dolphins had the most powerful brains on the planet.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Wow, so dolphin ancestors learned to stick together to defend themselves,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01and scientists think that's why their brains got bigger,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03because of their social life.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05That's the theory, that dolphins needed to be able to
0:13:05 > 0:13:08communicate with each other because they were living together.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- It's just like humans.- Yeah. - Amazing.- Exactly. So this afternoon,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15we'll show you even more amazing animals with human-style behaviour.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- We've got emotional elephants in Africa.- Aww.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- And we've got cheeky chimps that lie to each other.- That's not good.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- So join us later and we'll... - BOTH: Blow Your Mind!