Cetacean Behavior Toward the Dead and Dying

Bearzi, Giovanni; Eddy, Lavinia; Piwetz, Sarah; Reggente, M.; Cozzi, Bruno

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_2023-1

Cited by 21 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Death-related behaviour is described as a subcategory of epimeletic or nurturant behaviours (i.e. a healthy individual gives attention to an injured or dead one, as summarized in [4]) and is usually seen as a consequence of the cooperative, succouring and protective nature of social mammals [4][5][6][7][8]. Considering that the individual receiving this attention is often an offspring, some authors suggested that this behaviour could be a consequence of the strong mother-offspring bond [9][10][11][12], or a revival attempt through violent manipulation of the bodies [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pinnipeds) cross their paths, and have escorts accompany and defend them from intruders (e.g. cetaceans, [4,7]). There are also records of species (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While death-related behaviours of dolphins are known to be highly variable [4,7], there has not been a comprehensive review of the available information on this topic including all cetaceans. The only exception is a recent encyclopaedia chapter focusing on epimeletic behaviour among cetaceans [4]. Regarding pinnipeds, sea otters and manatees, the current available information is lacking, and the few studies are often descriptive and include sporadic observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social relationships and death-related behaviour in aquatic mammals: a systematic review

Reggente

Papale

McGinty

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Some aquatic mammals appear to care for their dead, whereas others abandon their live offspring when conditions are unfavourable. This incredible variety in behaviours suggests the importance of comparing and contrasting mechanisms driving death-related behaviours among these species. We reviewed 106 cases of aquatic mammals (81 cetaceans and 25 non-cetaceans) reacting to a death event, and extrapolated 'participant' (, , and ) and 'social' characteristics (, ,, and) from published and unpublished literature. A multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was performed to explore the relationships between these characteristics and death-related behaviours, with species clustered based on MCA scores. Results showed that both cetaceans and non-cetaceans react to death but in different ways. Non-cetaceans, characterized by a short maternal investment, were observed to protect the dead (defending it from external attacks), while cetaceans spent much longer with their offspring and display carrying (hauling, spinning, mouthing with the carcass and diving with it) and breathing-related (lifting and sinking the carcass) activities with the dead generally in association with other conspecifics. Our work emphasizes the need of increased documentation of death-related cases around the world to improve our understanding of aquatic mammals and their responses to death.This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals'.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…pinnipeds) cross their paths, and have escorts accompany and defend them from intruders (e.g. cetaceans, [4,7]). There are also records of species (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social relationships and death-related behaviour in aquatic mammals: a systematic review

Reggente

Papale

McGinty

et al. 2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Thanatological behaviors include carrying and caring for the deceased infant, defined as epimeletic behavior; other behaviors in cetaceans include stationing near the floating carcass or circling it in the water (Anderson 2011; Bearzi et al . 2017; Reggente et al . 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality and behavioral changes in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) following the death of herd members

Rutherford

Murray

2020

Integr. Zool.

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Elephants are highly social beings with complex individual personalities. We know that elephants have a general interest in death, investigating carcasses, not just limited to kin; however, research does not explore in depth whether individuals change their behavior or personality following traumatic events, such as the death of a conspecific. Within a captive herd of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) housed at Chester Zoo, UK, we measured social behavior and proximity and personality using the Ten‐Item Personality Inventory, and found age‐related and relationship‐related changes in both behavior and personality following the deaths of herd members. Overall, the herd spent less time socializing and engaging in affiliative behaviors following the death of the adult female when compared to baseline data, yet spent more time engaging in these behaviors after the death of two calves. The death of the central female had a dramatic impact on her infant calf, resulting in increasingly withdrawn behavior, yet had the opposite effect on her adult daughter, who subsequently established a more integrated role within the herd. Emotional Stability fell in the motherless calf but rose in an adult female, who had lost her adult daughter, but had a new calf to care for. We suggest that the greater impact on the behavior and personality of surviving herd members following the deaths of calves, compared to an adult member, attests to the significance of the unifying role played by calves within an elephant herd.

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“…Records of mammals interacting with dead conspecifics in an epimeletic manner (maintaining physical contact, moving/carrying, and protecting carcasses) are increasing (e.g. Bearzi, Eddy, Piwetz, Reggente, & Cozzi, ; Reggente et al, ). Species displaying these behaviours include giraffes (Bercovitch, ; Strauss & Muller, ), elephants (Douglas‐Hamilton, Bhalla, Wittemyer, & Vollrath, ), nonhuman primates (Cronin, Leeuwen, Mulenga, & Bodamer, ; Fashing et al, ; Yang, Anderson, & Li, ), and cetaceans (close relatives to hippos, Reggente et al, ), and reports commonly relate to a female interacting with the carcass of a juvenile.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations on the response of a pod of hippos to a dead juvenile hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius, Linnaeus 1758)

Inman

Leggett

2019

Afr J Ecol

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Cetacean Behavior Toward the Dead and Dying

Cited by 21 publications

References 23 publications

Social relationships and death-related behaviour in aquatic mammals: a systematic review

Social relationships and death-related behaviour in aquatic mammals: a systematic review

Personality and behavioral changes in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) following the death of herd members

Observations on the response of a pod of hippos to a dead juvenile hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius, Linnaeus 1758)

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