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Why elephants use more than one communication channel
Elephant signals can reach others in different ways: through the air as sound, through the ground as vibration, through visible body movements, through physical contact, and through chemical cues detected by smell. These channels can overlap. A sound-only account misses much of how elephants exchange information, while a single signal rarely tells the whole story on its own.
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| Channel | How it carries a signal | What the evidence supports |
|---|---|---|
| Vocalizations | Sound traveling through air | Studies support some functions, including contact calls among separated, closely bonded females and mate-attraction rumbles; interpretation remains contextual. Soltis, 2010 |
| Ground-borne vibration | Seismic energy traveling through the substrate | Researchers have recorded and tested seismic signals, but propagation and detection depend on the study conditions. Reinwald et al., 2021 |
| Movement and posture | Visible gestures and body positions | Part of the elephants’ broader communication repertoire, alongside sound and other channels. ElephantVoices |
| Touch | Direct physical contact | Can convey close-range social signals. ElephantVoices |
| Scent | Chemical cues detected through smell | Can carry information without direct contact. ElephantVoices |
What do elephant rumbles and trumpets sound like?
Rumbles are common, low-frequency calls
Rumbles are the most common and acoustically variable call type in the repertoire discussed in a 2010 review of African elephant vocal communication. They may occur alongside other calls, and researchers have found evidence for particular uses rather than a universal meaning for every rumble. For example, contact calls have been documented among closely bonded females separated from one another, and some rumbles are associated with attracting mates. Soltis, 2010
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Some rumble energy is infrasonic: below 20 hertz, the conventional boundary used for infrasound by Cornell’s Elephant Listening Project. A rumble may also contain higher harmonics that people can hear. So it is broadly true that elephants make sounds humans cannot hear, but not every part of every rumble is necessarily inaudible to us. Cornell Elephant Listening Project: Elephant Sound
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Trumpets are recognizable, but not the whole repertoire
Trumpeting is the best-known elephant vocalization, but elephants also make rumbles, screams, roars and combinations of calls. Recordings and descriptions from Cornell and Vienna Zoo show that calls may occur together in different situations; the label “trumpet” alone does not establish a single fixed message. Cornell Elephant Listening Project: Elephant Sound Vienna Zoo: Research project on sound communication in elephants
Can elephants hear sounds humans can’t?
Some elephant rumble fundamentals are below the typical human hearing threshold, which is why they are described as infrasonic. But a call can contain a range of frequencies: higher harmonics may fall within the human-audible range even when its lowest-frequency component does not. The 2012 study of the physical production mechanism of elephant infrasonic vocalizations examines how these low-frequency calls are produced. How low can you go? Physical production mechanism of elephant infrasonic vocalizations
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Can elephants feel sounds through the ground?
Elephant vocalizations can generate energy that travels both through the air and through the ground. Researchers have recorded seismic signals from rumbles and locomotion, but three claims should not be conflated: that a call produces ground vibration, that another elephant can detect a vibration, and that the vibration communicates a particular message. Evidence for one does not by itself prove the others.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →In a 2000 study of Asian elephant vocalizations and locomotion, measured propagation speeds were 309 metres per second for acoustic signals and 248–264 metres per second for seismic signals. These are measurements from that study’s conditions, not universal speeds for every call or type of ground. Seismic properties of Asian elephant vocalizations and locomotion
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A 2021 study compared methods for locating African elephant rumbles. In its experimental setup, seismic-only localization was more accurate than acoustic-only localization, and combining the two did not improve accuracy. The authors discuss seismic recording as a potentially useful, non-intrusive monitoring method; the result does not show that ground signals always travel farther or carry more information than sound. Reinwald et al., 2021
What recent zoo recordings show—and what they do not
A 2026 study analyzed more than 1,350 rumbles recorded at Opel-Zoo in Germany during August 2024. The rumbles lasted 1–8 seconds and had fundamental frequencies of 10–25 hertz. The researchers found that seismic background noise during zoo opening hours affected detection patterns. These results describe that zoo, recording period and sensor arrangement; they are not a universal measure of rumble duration, frequency or communication range in the wild. The authors also note that zoo seismic research is comparatively limited. Limberger et al., 2026
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How confidently can a call be interpreted?
Researchers have empirical support for some call functions, but the evidence is not a complete elephant phrasebook. A call’s significance depends on the surrounding situation and may be part of a combination of sounds or other signals. It is more accurate to describe a call as associated with a documented context or function than to translate it as a fixed sentence.
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