Animal systems of communication

Humans possess a natural, inborn facility to be creative with symbols; as far as we know, animals do not.

Birds have two types of sound signals--calls and songs. 

Honeybees communicate by dancing on the wall of their hive. 

Karl von Frisch  discovered Italian honeybee dances  

1) The round dance indicates the source of nectar is within 20 feet of the hive;  intensity of movement indicate the richness of the source.

2) The sickle dance indicates the source of nectar is 20 to 60 feet from the hive; again, the richness of the source is indicated by intensity of movement;  the angle with respect to gravity denotes the direction of the source in relation to the sun.

3) The tail-wagging dance is performed to indicate that the source of nectar is beyond 60 feet from the hive (80 feet in the Austrian honeybee). It imparts all the information of the sickle dance plus indicates the precise distance by the number of repetitions per minute--the slower the repetition the farther the distance. 

Ape communication

1) Limited to close-knit social groups

2) Contains much gesturing, facial expressions

3) Meaning of gestures is species-specific

**GRAMMAR - PATTERNS (RULES FOR COMBINING SIGNS) THAT HAVE FUNCTION BUT NO SPECIFIC MEANING

Only Human language has grammar  no other known natural system of communication does