Nature · 人与自然 / 动物 / 认知 / 科普
大象会用"名字"互相呼唤：非洲象的个体命名研究
A machine-learning analysis of hundreds of elephant calls suggests that wild African elephants address one another with individually specific rumbles — the first non-human animal known to use name-like calls that are not mere imitation
中文导读
长期以来，人类一直以为"用名字称呼同类"是自己独有的能力。但《自然·生态与进化》发表的一项研究却挑战了这一认知：非洲草原象会用各不相同的低沉吼声（rumble）来"称呼"特定的同伴。研究者分析了过去约 36 年间在肯尼亚录下的 469 段叫声，用机器学习模型从声学特征中预测每一声是"说给"哪头象听的；随后又对 17 头象做了回放实验，结果它们对"喊自己名字"的叫声反应更快、回应更多。这项发现之所以震撼，在于大象并非像海豚或鹦鹉那样靠模仿"复制"声音，而更像在使用一种任意的、非模仿的"标签"——这在概念上更接近人类的名字。
一、原文精读
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【1】For centuries, humans have assumed that the ability to address one another by name is uniquely ours. A new study of wild African savannah elephants suggests otherwise: these animals appear to address each other with individually specific rumbles — the first non-human creature known to use name-like calls that are not mere imitation.
【2】Led by researchers at Colorado State University and published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the study drew on 469 recorded rumbles collected from two populations in Kenya over roughly 36 years. The team fed the acoustic features of each call into a machine-learning model and asked it to predict which specific elephant a given call was directed toward.
【3】To rule out the possibility that receivers were simply reacting to the caller's voice, the researchers also conducted playback experiments with 17 elephants. When they heard a call originally addressed to them, the animals approached the loudspeaker more quickly and produced more vocalizations in response, a pattern that vanished when the same call was played to a different elephant.
【4】The model, by contrast, proved a surprisingly able listener. Guided by acoustic cues alone, it correctly identified the intended receiver in more than a quarter of trials — a rate far above chance, and one that held even when the calls came from unfamiliar voices, suggesting that the "names" reside in the call itself rather than in the caller's identity.
【5】What makes the finding striking is its departure from the animal kingdom's better-known examples. Dolphins and parrots, for instance, produce signature whistles or calls that are acquired by imitating other individuals — a form of "calling" that copies rather than labels. The elephants, by contrast, appear to use arbitrary, non-imitative sounds — a step conceptually closer to the way human names work.
【6】Such labels, the authors argue, make sense for a species whose society is built on long-distance communication and dense kinship networks. Elephants frequently separate and reunite across vast savannahs, and a mother, or a matriarch guiding her herd, may need to single out one distinct individual among dozens without visual contact — a demand that imitation alone cannot meet.
【7】To be sure, the researchers are careful not to overstate the case. Whether these calls carry the full semantic weight of human names remains unknown, and the team could not prove that elephants understand a call as referring to a specific individual in the way that we do. "This is an exciting step, but many questions remain," one author noted, observing that the study raises as many questions as it answers.
【8】The discovery nonetheless reshapes how scientists think about the evolution of language. If a non-primate mammal, whose last common ancestor with humans lived tens of millions of years ago, can evolve name-like communication, then the building blocks of language may be far older, and far more widespread, than once believed.
【9】For conservationists, the finding carries a quieter lesson. Each of these elephants — each named, recognized, and addressed within its own society — is an individual, not a number; and the more we learn about the richness of their inner lives, the harder it becomes to treat them, or their shrinking habitats, as expendable.
原文出处：本文根据《自然·生态与进化》（Nature Ecology & Evolution，2024 年 6 月）刊发、由科罗拉多州立大学（Colorado State University）与"拯救大象"组织（Save the Elephants）联合开展的非洲象"个体命名"研究，及相关公开报道综合整理编写，供学习使用。
三、长难句分析（三步拆解法）
Led by researchers at Colorado State University and published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the study drew on 469 recorded rumbles collected from two populations in Kenya over roughly 36 years.
主干：the study drew on 469 recorded rumbles（主语 + drew on + 宾语）
过去分词短语作状语：Led by researchers … and published in the journal …（并列过去分词，说明研究的"出身"）
后置定语（过去分词短语）：collected from two populations in Kenya over roughly 36 years（修饰 rumbles）
考点：过去分词作状语与后置定语（done 表被动、完成）；draw on 搭配
译文：这项由科罗拉多州立大学研究人员领导、发表于《自然·生态与进化》的研究，利用了约 36 年间从肯尼亚两个象群采集的 469 段录音叫声。
When they heard a call originally addressed to them, the animals approached the loudspeaker more quickly and produced more vocalizations in response, a pattern that vanished when the same call was played to a different elephant.
主干：the animals approached the loudspeaker … and produced more vocalizations（并列谓语）
时间状语从句：When they heard a call originally addressed to them（originally addressed to them 作 call 的后置定语）
同位语 + 定语从句：a pattern that vanished …（a pattern 概括前面整句内容；that 引导定语从句，其中又含 when 时间状语从句）
考点：when 时间状语从句；过去分词作后置定语；同位语；that 定语从句
译文：当听到一段原本是"喊自己"的叫声时，这些大象更快地走近扬声器，并发出更多叫声作为回应——而当同一段叫声播放给另一头象时，这一模式便消失了。
Guided by acoustic cues alone, it correctly identified the intended receiver in more than a quarter of trials — a rate far above chance, and one that held even when the calls came from unfamiliar voices, suggesting that the "names" reside in the call itself rather than in the caller's identity.
主干：it correctly identified the intended receiver（主语 + identified + 宾语）
过去分词短语作状语：Guided by acoustic cues alone（"仅凭声学线索"）
同位语 + 定语从句：a rate far above chance, and one that held even when …（one 指代 a rate；that 引导定语从句）
现在分词作结果状语：suggesting that the "names" reside in the call itself（suggesting 引出结论，that 宾语从句）
考点：过去分词作状语；同位语；现在分词作结果状语；that 宾语从句
译文：仅凭声学线索，该模型就在超过四分之一的试验中正确识别出"接听对象"——这一比率远高于偶然水平，而且即便叫声来自陌生的声音也依然成立，表明"名字"就存在于叫声本身，而非呼叫者的身份之中。
If a non-primate mammal, whose last common ancestor with humans lived tens of millions of years ago, can evolve name-like communication, then the building blocks of language may be far older, and far more widespread, than once believed.
主干：the building blocks of language may be far older, and far more widespread, than once believed（主句，系表结构）
条件状语从句：If a non-primate mammal … can evolve name-like communication
非限制性定语从句：whose last common ancestor with humans lived tens of millions of years ago（whose 引导，修饰 mammal）
考点：if 条件句；whose 非限制性定语从句；形容词比较级 older / more widespread；than once believed（省略）
译文：如果一种与人类最近的共同祖先生活在数千万年前的非灵长类哺乳动物，也能演化出类命名的交流方式，那么语言的基石可能比人们以往所认为的更加古老、也更加普遍。
Each of these elephants — each named, recognized, and addressed within its own society — is an individual, not a number; and the more we learn about the richness of their inner lives, the harder it becomes to treat them, or their shrinking habitats, as expendable.
主干（并列句）：Each of these elephants … is an individual, not a number; and the harder it becomes to treat them … as expendable
插入语（同位说明）：each named, recognized, and addressed within its own society（三个过去分词并列）
比较结构：the more we learn …, the harder it becomes …（the + 比较级，the + 比较级，"越……越……"）
考点：the + 比较级，the + 比较级；过去分词并列作插入语；it 作形式主语
译文：这些大象中的每一头——每一头都在自己的社会里被命名、被辨认、被呼唤——都是一个个体，而非一个数字；我们越了解它们内心世界的丰富，就越难以把它们，或它们日益缩小的栖息地，当作可有可无的存在。
四、全文大意
长久以来，人类一直以为"用名字称呼同类"是自己独有的能力，但《自然·生态与进化》发表的一项研究打破了这一认知。由科罗拉多州立大学研究人员领导、"拯救大象"组织参与的研究，分析了约 36 年间从肯尼亚两个象群采集的 469 段叫声，把每一声叫声的声学特征输入机器学习模型，让它预测这段叫声是"说给"哪头象听的。为避免大象只是对呼叫者的嗓音作出反应，研究者又对 17 头象做了回放实验：当听到一段原本"喊自己"的叫声时，大象更快走近扬声器、发出更多回应，而播放给另一头象时则毫无反应。机器学习模型仅凭声学线索，就能在超过四分之一的试验中正确识别"接听对象"，且这一结果在叫声来自陌生声音时依然成立，说明"名字"就藏在叫声本身里。更关键的是，这项发现区别于海豚和鹦鹉的"签名叫声"——后者靠模仿复制声音，而大象使用的是任意的、非模仿的"标签"，这在概念上更接近人类的名字。研究认为，这种命名能力对大象意义重大：它们的社会建立在远距离交流与紧密的亲缘网络上，母象或带领象群的首领常常需要在看不到的情况下从几十头象中单独呼唤某一头。当然，研究者谨慎地指出，这些叫声是否承载人类名字那样完整的语义尚不可知，这项研究"提出的问题和回答的一样多"。尽管如此，它仍重塑了人们对语言演化的认识——若一种非灵长类哺乳动物也能演化出类命名的交流，语言基石可能远比想象中古老和普遍。对保护人士而言，这份发现还带有一层更安静的含义：每一头被命名、被辨认、被呼唤的大象都是一个独特的个体，越了解它们丰富的内心世界，就越难将其及它们日益缩小的栖息地当作可有可无的东西。
五、思考与仿写
思考题：结合第 5、6 段，说说大象的"命名"方式与海豚、鹦鹉的"签名叫声"有何本质区别？这种区别为什么让研究者联想到人类语言？
仿写题：仿照第 9 段 "the more we learn about …, the harder it becomes to treat them … as expendable"（the + 比较级，the + 比较级）的句式，围绕「坚持锻炼」或「保护环境」写一个句子。