Communication is a capacity common to all animals. When talking about communication, one usually thinks of verbal communication, since it is the most used by human beings. However, the ability to transmit information between beings of the same or different species goes far beyond this common method among people.
In fact, the communication of animals is as varied as there are species and types of messages they want to transmit. In addition, it must be taken into account that there are many different ways of carrying out this communication depending on the type of animal and the environment in which we find ourselves, so they will be factors that will determine the final form that the communication itself takes. If you want to know How do animals communicate keep reading Green Ecologist and we'll tell you about it.
Body language
Perhaps, if we have to mention a form of communication in the animal world, the most common of all and the one that reaches more types of animals, regardless of their species or environment in which they live, it is corporal lenguage. Body language is one that uses body posture or a part of it to convey a specific message.
In this sense, it is a type of language that we see in almost all species, regardless of the type of animal in question. It can be seen mainly in mammals and birds, dogs and cats, as well as roosters are good examples. However, it can also be found in other animals such as reptiles or even insects. This type of language can be used both to convey the feeling of joy or sadness to animals of the same or another species, as well as to be used to threaten or show a danger to the same species or to different species.
If you want to know more about communication between members of the same species, we recommend this other article about what are intraspecific relationships. But if you want to know more about communication between individuals of different species, then we advise you to read this other article by Green Ecologist in which we talk about interspecific relationships: types and examples.
Animals communicate with colors and visual cues
The use of colors is another very common form of communication in the animal world. In this case, the colors of an animal's body can indicate messages such as danger or threat (for example, the yellow and black stripes of wasps), or messages related to courtship and reproduction (for example, the colorful colors of some birds ).
It is a very common form of animal communication that, in some cases, reaches a complexity that, even today, we have not come to fully understand, as is the case with octopuses and other cephalopods. These animals are capable of change color to convey different messages, both to members of their own species and to potential predators of others.
Using sounds
Another of the ways of communicating that animals have And that cannot be overlooked is the use of sounds. In this case, although the use of verbal language also run with sounds, we mean a different type of language, based solely on nature and not on cultural tradition. We can find it in both animals and people.
In this sense, the use of sounds It can range from feelings of joy or sadness to courtship or caution in the face of imminent danger. It can be seen clearly in many mammals and birds, although it is also used by some reptiles, and even insects, such as crickets and grasshoppers.
Using odors to communicate between animals
Likewise, another of the forms of communication that animals use to relate to each other and that plays a fundamental role in many cases is the use of odors. These odors can be produced from the animal's own body, or through substances that they secrete for this purpose, as happens with pheromones.
In addition, they can also use their own excrement as a form of communication, especially when it comes to indicating a territory. Another important example of animals that use odors to communicate are ants, which receive different olfactory messages through the antennae on their head, allowing them to identify members of their own colony or ants from different colonies.
Electrical signals, electromagnetism and vibration
Finally, it is worth highlighting another form of communication widely used by some animals and that, for human beings, can be too strange. It is the ability of some animals to detect signals from the environment that are completely invisible and undetectable to people.
In this sense, the electrical signals and the electromagnetic signals, What vibration. In this case, some fish such as sharks, as well as cetaceans within mammals, are animals that have the ability to recognize and communicate through these types of signals. On the other hand, some animals, especially amphibians and some types of insects, can communicate by generating and capturing very specific vibrations. Some examples would be some types of frogs, as well as some crickets and grasshoppers, in addition to some types of arachnids.
If you want to read more articles similar to How do animals communicate, we recommend that you enter our category of Animal Curiosities.
