How does social behavior differ among sperm whale clans?

Cantor, Mauricio; Whitehead, Hal

How does social behavior differ among sperm whale clans?

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Date

2015

Authors

Cantor, Mauricio

Whitehead, Hal

Publication type

Journal article

Publication status

Published

Published in

Marine Mammal Science ; 31 (2015), 4. - pp. 1275-1290. - Wiley-Blackwell. - ISSN 0824-0469. - eISSN 1748-7692

Abstract

When individuals primarily associate with and learn from those who behave similarly, society and culture become closely tied. Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus ) exhibit multilevel social structure, the levels of which are differentiated in part by characteristic cultural behaviors. Sperm whales are organized into sympatric clans, with distinctive vocal repertoires that are socially learned. Other behaviors, such as movement patterns and foraging, also differ among clans. Here we ask whether the clan partition also includes divergences in social behavior. Off the Galápagos Islands, members of two clans differed consistently in diving synchrony, heterogeneity, and temporal stability of social relationships. While number of associates (indicated by social unit, group, and cluster sizes) were similar between clans, Regular clan members dived more synchronously and had more homogeneous relationships than the Plus‐One clan members. Plus‐One social units had generally longer associations than those of the Regular clan. Differences in surface‐time coordination and quality of social relationships are likely byproducts of the clan segregation, which could affect alloparental care giving, therefore scaling up to differential calf survival rates between clans. This new dimension of behavioral divergence between sperm whale clans indicates that sympatric, socio‐cultural entities of nonhumans can also display characteristic social behavior.

Subject (DDC)

570 Biosciences, Biology

Keywords

intraspecific variation, culture, sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, grouping, social structure

Cite This

ISO 690

CANTOR, Mauricio, Hal WHITEHEAD, 2015. How does social behavior differ among sperm whale clans?. In: Marine Mammal Science. Wiley-Blackwell. 31(4), pp. 1275-1290. ISSN 0824-0469. eISSN 1748-7692. Available under: doi: 10.1111/mms.12218

BibTex

@article{Cantor2015-10socia-50160,
  year={2015},
  doi={10.1111/mms.12218},
  title={How does social behavior differ among sperm whale clans?},
  number={4},
  volume={31},
  issn={0824-0469},
  journal={Marine Mammal Science},
  pages={1275--1290},
  author={Cantor, Mauricio and Whitehead, Hal}
}

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Refereed

Yes