[qez]

> Some of them, like Dolphins, sure seem damned close to our own capabilities with likely fully formed languages ... Because we're definitely trying to communicate with the species we're aware of that we think have language.

This is highly doubtful. Crows don't have language anything like humans. Dolphins are a more likely candidate. I want to believe it, but I can't.

[dbingham]

And this right here is why it's taken us so long to figure out that we even have terrestrial aliens with cultures and languages.

If you're not willing to believe it's possible, then you can't even begin to devise ways to determine if it's real.

> "We have hardly begun to decipher the language of the raven. Its dictionary so far contains but a few 'words'. Perhaps our analysis has been too coarse-grained to catch the meanings. Our research has been something like that of aliens from outer space who make sonograms of human vocalizations under different situations - eating, playing, loving, fighting, etc. Certain differences noted in frequency, intonation, and loudness are correlated with feelings and emotions. But human sounds convey much more, and perhaps ravens' do, too."

> Our challenge is to put ourselves in the place of those "aliens from outer space" and solve the immensely difficult problem of how to communicate with another intelligent species.

http://np.crows.net/language.html

Consider this: Crows pass knowledge down the generations. There have been studies done on crows where researchers go out and bully them. Then they observe the crows to see if they remember who bullied them. They do remember. And so do their children, and the children of their children. They clearly have a means of pretty abstract communication, because in remembering, they differentiate different people. They have a way of telling their kids "See that human? Yeah, that one. He's an asshole."

> Recent studies have proven that the crow can remember the faces of other birds and even humans. They can differentiate between those who have been kind to them and those who have caused them stress. Crows will even pass this information on to other generations.

https://birdfact.com/articles/do-crows-remember-faces

With Dolphins the existence of a language is even clearer.

In this Nova Science episode they show clear evidence of a language. They have taught the dolphins to create a new trick (something they haven't done before and haven't been taught to do by humans). They've also taught them to do tricks together. Then they put them together - "together", "create". And they did it, they came up with a new trick and they did the exact same trick together.

That absolutely requires language akin to humans.

Relevant section starts at around 8 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwhoLlu8D_g

The evidence is there, we just have to be willing to put aside our own egos and see it.

[ASalazarMX]

> Then they put them together - "together", "create". And they did it, they came up with a new trick and they did the exact same trick together.

> That absolutely requires language akin to humans.

I want to believe they describe the trick like skaters describe theirs: "When I give you the signal, let's do a a 360 Ollie underflip flamingo powerslide. If we do it in sync, the walkers will give us treats".