“Elephants communicate using low-frequency sounds that are often inaudible to humans and can travel long distances, as well as through body language such as ear and trunk movements.”

The production, transmission, and reception of and the behavioral response to long-distance, low-frequency sound by elephants is reviewed. Infrasound plays a pervasive role in reproduction, resource utilization, avoidance of predation and other social interactions.

Elephant “rumbles” can be detected by seismic sensors after the low-frequency vocalizations have travelled more than 6 km through the ground – according to a team of geophysicist and biologists in the UK. These are low-frequency vocalizations, usually under 20 Hz, that are below the audible range for humans.

The part of an elephant's call audible to humans travels only about 800 meters through air, but the infrasonic tones can reach up to 10 kilometers under ideal conditions. The noise can vibrate via the ground too, theoretically going much farther.

A bull in musth (or in breeding state) signals that he desires sexual activity by displaying specific courtship behavior, which includes the emission of scent, discharge of bodily fluids and broadcasting of infrasound calls. Such low, powerful calls carry more than 2 miles in the air. Trunks are essential to their tactile sense. They use their trunks to caress each other or explore other objects.

The most extraordinary aspect of elephant communication is arguably their use of infrasound, which are extremely low-frequency sound waves that they emit to communicate. To put it in context, the lower limit of human hearing is 20 Hz; elephants communicate at infrasound frequencies that go as low as 1 Hz. Elephant communication isn't just vocal, it's also deeply physical. Much of what elephants express is conveyed through posture, movement, and touch. For instance: Trunk touches can mean many things... Ear flapping isn't just for cooling down, it can also signal mood or intent.

Bioacoustics researcher Katy Payne and her colleagues have found that elephants use low frequency sounds to communicate. These sounds are mostly below the range of human hearing but we feel them as 'pulsations' in the air. In Africa these sounds may travel as far as 10 km and serve to coordinate elephant herds.

Elephants produce infrasound—low-frequency sounds below the range of human hearing—by using their feet to create impacts on the ground. These seismic waves travel through the earth, enabling elephants to communicate even when they are miles apart. Remarkably, these signals can be detected by other elephants up to 32 kilometers away!

Elephants communicate using various signals, including vocalizations, body language, and tactile gestures... Vocalizations, such as deep rumbles, trumpets, and bellows, carry information over long distances and convey identity, emotional state, and intentions. These vocal signals can travel up to 10 kilometers, allowing herds to stay connected over vast ranges. Beyond sound, elephants use visual signals like ear flapping, head shaking, and trunk movements to express feelings such as playfulness, aggression, or alertness.

Elephants communicate using a number of different methods such as body language, chemical signals, tactile communication, vocalizations and even seismic vibrations. Elephants are also able to use their feet to be able to feel vibrations in the ground and communicate via infrasound which is very low frequency sounds which are below the range of human hearing. Body language is also incredibly important when it comes to elephant communication such as ear spreading and the use of their tail.

Elephants also communicate extensively through body language, including ear flapping to signal agitation or cooling, trunk gestures for greeting or threat displays, and tail movements to indicate mood or warnings to calves.

These massive mammals greet each other with a mix of gestures and sounds—by flapping their ears, making rumbling noises, waggling their tails and reaching out their trunks, scientists reported last week in the journal Communications Biology. Elephants also changed their greetings based on whether their companion was looking at them or not: They were more likely to use visual gestures, like trunk swinging, when their partner was looking directly at them, and more likely to use physical touch or gestures that produce sound when their partner was looking elsewhere.

Although elephants cannot speak like humans, they clearly communicate their emotions through body language. If you see an elephant standing calmly and gently flapping its ears, this is a sign of comfort and relaxation. However, if the ears are spread wide, stiff, and raised high, this is a warning sign. When an elephant raises its trunk to sniff a visitor, it is “getting to know” you and assessing whether you are friendly.

Elephants communicate over long distances by producing low-frequency infrasound vibrations that travel through the ground and air and are inaudible to humans.

Did you know that by using infrasound elephants can talk to each other 6 miles apart, and humans can't hear it? Infrasounds are low frequency noises between 1 and 20 herts.

Katy Payne discovered that elephants communicate with one another via infrasound – sound below 20 hertz (Hz). The human hearing range lies somewhere between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. The elephants were communicating at frequency levels outside the range of human hearing.