Zoologist Arik Kershenbaum: ‘We all want to know whether animals talk and what they’re saying’

The zoologist on observing animal communication in the wild, why dolphins give one another names, and the high likelihood that humans could converse with aliens

Dr Arik Kershenbaum is a zoologist at Cambridge University who specialises in animal communication, studying wolves, gibbons and dolphins to “understand more not just about their ecology and conservation, but also about the evolution of our own language”. His first book, The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy, which speculated on alien life, came out in 2020. His new book, Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication, will be published on 25 January.

Why did you decide to write this book?
My previous book was unusual and dealt with quite radical ideas. But I really wanted to write about what I do in my day job. And it’s appealing to everyone: we all want to know whether animals are talking and what they’re saying. Although there’s a weird split personality on this: on the one hand, we want animals to talk; but on the other, we’re scared of animals talking because that would mean we’re not quite as special as we thought.