Lateralization of spatial relationships between wild mother and infant orcas, Orcinus orca

Cetacean mother-calf behavior observed from a small aircraft off Southern California

“…As documented among many mammals (e.g., Trivers, 1974), proximity of cetacean mothers and young calves and duration traveling near the mother decreases with increasing calf age, corresponding to larger size and increased calf dexterity (e.g., . Although we found no laterality preference for back-riding among the four mysticete mother-calf pairs we observed, beluga and killer whale calves preferred the right side of their mothers while swimming, a bias attributed to right-hemispheric advantage resulting in left eye social preference, as described in other vertebrates and cetaceans (e.g., Karenina, Giljov, Ivkovich, Burdin, & Malashichev, 2013;.…”

“…However, Morete et al (2007) noted the absence of back-riding and less rest and fewer active behavioral events (e.g., rolling) by humpback whale calves within 100 m of vessels. In response to close (< 10 m) boat approaches, killer whale mothers shifted calf position from their right to their left side; the authors suggested that this response improved sensory information flow from the calf to the mother's left eye, resulting in right brain hemisphere advantage in visual acuity/responsiveness to a potential threat (Karenina et al, 2013). Calf laterality in mysticetes may also provide a quantitative measure of disturbance, though we did not find any lateral bias in our small sample size.…”

Aerial photographic identification of narwhal (Monodon monoceros) newborns and their spatial proximity to the nearest adult female

“…Narwhal newborns were generally located close to the midpoint of the nearest adult female, either at the side (echelon position) or at the tail (infant position). These are the two main positions described for other odontocetes including bottlenose dolphins, belugas, and killer whales (Reid et al 1995;Mann and Smut 1999;Krasnova et al 2006;Noren 2008;Karenina et al 2013). Narwhal newborns tended to be very close to the nearest adult female, with the vast majority within 1/4 body length and nearly all within one body length.…”

History, development and current advances concerning the evolutionary roots of human right‐handedness and language: Brain lateralisation and manual laterality in non‐human primates

“…Therefore, social laterality (i.e., laterality expressed in social interactions) could have arisen at the population level because it facilitated intraspecific interactions (Rogers, ). This assumption is supported by studies in invertebrates (e.g., spitting spiders: Ades & Ramires, ; Heuts, Cornelissen, & Lambrechts, ; red wood ants: Frasnelli, Iakovlev, & Reznikova, ; fiddler crabs: Backwell et al, ) and vertebrates (e.g., fish: Bisazza et al, ; Bisazza et al, ; amphibians: Robins et al, , Vallortigara, Rogers, Bisazza, Lippolis, & Robins, ; birds: Vallortigara, Cozzutti, Tommasi, & Rogers, ; Ventolini et al, ; ungulates: Jennings, ; Versace, Morgante, Pulina, & Vallortigara, ; cetaceans: Karenina et al, ; Karenina, Giljov, Ivkovich, Burdin, & Malashichev, ; primates: Baraud, Buytet, Bec, & Blois‐Heulin, , Meguerditchian, Vauclair, & Hopkins, ; Prieur et al, ). For example, red wood ants exhibit a population‐level bias during “feeding” contacts when a “donor” ant exchanges food with a “receiver” ant through trophallaxis: the “receiver” ant uses its right antenna predominantly more often than its left antenna (Frasnelli, et al, ).…”