How do animals communicate

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 medium in which they live, is body language . Body language is one that uses the posture of the body 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 recommend reading this other AgroCorrn article in which we talk about interspecific relationships: types and examples .

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 and, 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 changing color to convey different messages, both to members of their own species and to potential predators of others

Another form of communication that animals have and that cannot be ignored is the use of sounds. In this case, although the use of verbal language is also executed with sounds, we are referring to 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 can determine 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.

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 are secreted for this purpose, such as 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.

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, it is worth highlighting both electrical signals and electromagnetic signals , such as 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.