On Thu, 16 Apr 2009, Michael Smith wrote:
>> There are many features the distinguish language, but IIUC one simple
>> test nobody else has been able to pass yet is the ability to discuss
>> something located in the past or future, or simply elsewhere.
>
> Not to argue against the uniqueness of language -- or humans
> for that matter -- but it is awfully difficult to pin down
> where that uniqueness lies. Bees, for example, seem to be able
> to tell other bees about sources of nectar "elsewhere."
IANALinguist, but as you can imagine, this example comes up a lot in the discussion of complex communication that isn't language, as well as colony insect life in general. And the linguists seem unanimous in distinguishing "going back and signalling the hive where to find something" from language with a grammar.
In this particular case, we seem to be talking about a complex form of pointing. Bees are oriented in space by the hive. The bee who sees the nectar comes back to the hive and signals (in dance, it seems) where it is located and they all go off as per directions. But amusingly, if you spin the hive after the first bee enters, they all go off in the wrong direction.
Michael