Age-related multi-year associations in female humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Ramp, Christian; Hagen, Wilhelm; Palsbøll, Per J.; Bérubé, Martine; Sears, Richard

doi:10.1007/s00265-010-0970-8

Cited by 55 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 78 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We have shown in our study, that humpback whales also produce an array of stable social calls, which are presumably used to mediate social interactions. Humpback whales were previously considered to have few stable relationships (Clapham et al, 1992); however, there have been reports of long-term associations on the feeding grounds (Weinrich, 1991;Ramp et al, 2010). Humpback whales on migration frequently associate within groups (Dunlop et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Temporal stability and change in the social call repertoire of migrating humpback whales

Rekdahl

Dunlop

Noad

et al. 2013

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

127

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quantifying the stability of a species vocal repertoire is fundamental for further investigations into repertoire function and geographic variation. Changes to the repertoire of sounds used in the song displays of male humpback whales have been well studied. In contrast, little is known about the stability of this species' non-song vocal calls. The stability of the social call repertoire of east Australian humpback whales was investigated from 1997, 2003-2004, and 2008. Out of 46 qualitatively defined call types, 19 were classified as "song-unit calls" that tended to change with the song, and 15 were "inconsistent" and only found in one or two years. Twelve call types were "stable" and present in all years and were commonly produced (64.2% of calls). Stable calls tended to vary in some of the measured call parameters but there was no clear trend between years. This result could indicate that minor changes to calls are not permanent, but reflect individual differences in call production or the graded nature of calls within different social environments. This research has clearly identified stable calls in the call repertoire of humpback whales and while their function is not well understood, their stability suggests an important role in social interactions.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Temporal stability and change in the social call repertoire of migrating humpback whales

Rekdahl

Dunlop

Noad

et al. 2013

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

127

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…High latitude social behavior varies from solitary individuals to stable short-term associations, with animals in GBNPP typically travelling alone or forming small ephemeral groups (Baker et al, 1985;Clapham, 1996;Ramp et al, 2010;Weinrich et al, 2006). In comparison, humpback whales on migratory corridors show high levels of social interaction, ranging from group travel to male-male competition and vocal breeding displays (Corkeron and Brown, 1995;Dunlop et al, 2008).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Source levels of foraging humpback whale calls

Fournet

Matthews

Gabriele³

et al. 2018

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Humpback whales produce a wide range of low- to mid-frequency vocalizations throughout their migratory range. Non-song “calls” dominate this species' vocal repertoire while on high-latitude foraging grounds. The source levels of 426 humpback whale calls in four vocal classes were estimated using a four-element planar array deployed in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Southeast Alaska. There was no significant difference in source levels between humpback whale vocal classes. The mean call source level was 137 dBRMS re 1 μPa @ 1 m in the bandwidth of the call (range 113–157 dBRMS re 1 μPa @ 1 m), where bandwidth is defined as the frequency range from the lowest to the highest frequency component of the call. These values represent a robust estimate of humpback whale source levels on foraging grounds and should append earlier estimates.

show abstract

“…Natal male kin are therefore more concentrating into younger juvenile and sub-adult categories, while female kin remain distributed across a wider range of ages. Age proximity, and particularly peer group membership, is an important regulator of social interactions in capuchins (Schoof & Jack, 2014) and various other animals: gazelles (Walther, 1972), impalas (Murray, 1981), savannah baboons (Pereira, 1988;Alberts, 1999;Silk et al, 2006Silk et al, , 2010, rhesus macaques (Janus, 1992;Widdig et al, 2001Widdig et al, , 2002, chimpanzees (Mitani, 2009), humpback whales (Ramp et al, 2010), and giraffes: (Bercovitch & Berry, 2013). In species featuring high male reproductive skew during brief tenures, such as rhesus macaques, strong associations with peers can allow for different treatment of paternal half siblings as compared to more distant kin (Altmann, 1979;Widdig, 2007Widdig, , 2013.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cues to kinship and close relatedness during infancy in white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ability to recognize kin has important impacts on fitness because it can allow for kinbiased affiliative behaviors and for avoidance of mating with close kin. While the presence and effects of kin biases have been widely studied, less is known about the process by which animals recognize close kin. Here we investigate potential cues that white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) may use to detect half-siblings and closer kin. We focus on the first year of life in a sample of 130 infant (n=65 infant females) wild capuchins from the Lomas Barbudal population in Costa Rica. We show that (1) infant relatedness to juvenile and adult males at the level of half-sibling and higher can be predicted by male alpha status, spatial proximity, and age proximity, and that (2) infant relatedness to juvenile and adult females at the level of half-sibling or higher can be predicted by spatial proximity (but not age proximity). Furthermore, (1) the identities of infants' fathers can also be predicted by male alpha status and the spatial proximity between infants and adult males, and (2) age proximity (but not spatial proximity) is predictive of paternal sibship. These results suggest that infant capuchins have access to multiple cues to close relatedness and paternal kinship, though whether infants use these cues later in life remains to be explored in future research.Keywords: kin recognition, age proximity, early social familiarity, male dominance, The ability to recognize kin has many adaptive benefits. It can help organisms increase their inclusive fitness by allowing them to allot a disproportionate amount of affiliative behaviors and coalitionary support toward individuals with which they share a larger proportion of their genes (Hamilton, 1964). Furthermore, by allowing individuals to recognize kin and discriminate against them in a mating context, kin recognition mechanisms can facilitate avoidance of the deleterious effects of close inbreeding (Charlesworth & Charlesworth, 1987).We define kin recognition as the ability to identify and distinguish kin from non-kin, or more closely related kin from more distant kin, regardless of the mechanism or mechanisms through which it is accomplished, and regardless of whether it actually leads to differential treatment of individuals (i.e. kin discrimination). In this sense, we take on a broad as opposed to narrow definition of kin recognition (see Penn & Frommen, 2010). We consider the related term kin bias to be the differential treatment of kin versus non-kin (or close kin from distant kin), though not exclusively as the result of kin recognition.Kin recognition has been documented in a wide array of animal taxa, including, to name only a few: Artic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) (Winberg & Olsén, 1992;Olsén & Winberg, 1996), spadefoot toads (Scaphiopus bombifrons) (Pfennig et al., 1993), Golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) (Mateo & Johnston, 2000), and Belding's ground squirrels (Spermophilus beldingi) and Arctic ground squirrels (Spermophilus parryii) (Holmes & S...

show abstract

Age-related multi-year associations in female humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

Cited by 55 publications

References 78 publications

Temporal stability and change in the social call repertoire of migrating humpback whales

Temporal stability and change in the social call repertoire of migrating humpback whales

Source levels of foraging humpback whale calls

Cues to kinship and close relatedness during infancy in white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About