Dolphin Baby Talk

Bottlenose dolphin and calf. Photo taken under NMFS MMPA Permit No. 20455 issued to the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program.

Across human cultures, people modify their speech when interacting with children, typically using higher pitches and a wider range of pitches. It’s sometimes referred to as “motherese” or “baby talk,” though it is used by caregivers of both sexes and directed towards children as well as infants. A more inclusive term is child-directed communication, but even that may not be broad enough: new research suggests that bottlenose dolphins similarly change their communication signals in the presence of their calves.

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Dolphins Talk in “Motherese” To Their Calves.