In the savannas of Kenya, elephants communicate not only with solitary rumbles but also with entire choruses of overlapping low-frequency signals. These sounds, often inaudible to the human ear, carry information over kilometers about who is calling and what is happening in the group. New research shows that such joint vocalizations are not just noise but coordinated group messages.
Scientists from the Earth Species Project applied machine learning to 902 recordings of the rumbling of wild African savanna elephants in Amboseli National Park. The material was collected from 1986 to 2022 in family groups. The algorithm analyzed six contexts: "soothing" rumbles of females to their calves, contact rumbles between separated individuals, calls to move, rhythmic rumbles during eating or resting, and greeting rumbles at meetings.
The model predicted elephant behavior from sound better than random guessing, albeit with errors. Importantly, the choruses retain information about individual voices and context, and sometimes add subtler details that are unavailable when analyzing solitary signals. In some cases, the voices in the chorus became acoustically closer — a phenomenon reminiscent of how people in a conversation begin to adapt to their interlocutor.
Such convergence of voices was observed in cadenced, contact, and greeting rumbles. It probably helps the family coordinate actions: move together, restore bonds, or organize daily life. However, the researchers emphasize that confirming this hypothesis requires additional observations.
Similar AI methods are already being applied to the communication of sperm whales, marmosets, and crows. In elephants, whose societies are distinguished by a complex social structure, these tools open a window into a world where overlapping rumbles carry collective meaning. This highlights how closely the members of a herd are connected to one another and how important it is to preserve their natural habitat.
Understanding such signals helps better assess how anthropogenic noise or landscape fragmentation affects elephant communication and their ability to maintain social bonds.
