The role of signature whistle matching in bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus

King, Stephanie L.; Harley, Heidi E.; Janik, Vincent M.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.07.019

Cited by 50 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Pectoral fin contact will be more frequent among non-kin than kin because kin recognize each other with other mechanisms so pectoral fin contact could be used less frequently (Table 1). Bruck (2013) confirmed that dolphins are capable of long-term social memory spanning decades, and other researchers have found via numerous studies that bottlenose dolphins readily recognize and react to playbacks of the signature whistles of familiar, even related, individuals (e.g., Janik, Sayigh, & Wells, 2006;King, Harley, & Janik, 2014;Sayigh, Esch, Wells, & Janik, 2007). For many species, kin recognition has been documented for aquatic mammals between mother and offspring, siblings, and second-generation relations via visual, vocal and olfactory cues (e.g., Sauvé, Beauplet, Hammill, & Charrier, 2015;Trimble & Charrier, 2011;Wilson et al, 2015), non-kin require social mechanisms or tools to establish and maintain a social relationship with a new conspecific.…”

Section: Alternative Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 62%

Pectoral fin contact as a mechanism for social bonding among dolphins

Dudzinski¹,

Ribic²

2017

AB&C

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Section: Alternative Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 62%

Pectoral fin contact as a mechanism for social bonding among dolphins

Dudzinski¹,

Ribic²

2017

AB&C

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“…Although it seems likely that this whistle contour was the DD's signature whistle, bottlenose dolphins sometimes produce the signature whistle contours of conspecifics (King, Harley, & Janik, 2014;King, Sayigh, Wells, Fellner, & Janik, 2013). Therefore, we cannot be certain that all of the BDD^whistle contours were emitted by the DD herself, or if some contour emissions were other animals matching her whistle type.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Underwater observations of dolphin reactions to a distressed conspecific

et al. 2015

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This report describes the epimeletic (or Bcaregiving^) behavior produced by members of a group of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and the possible role of the ailing animal's distress call in eliciting such behavior. Epimeletic behavior in cetaceans most typically involves forms of support provided to a distressed, injured, or dying animal (Caldwell & Caldwell, 1966). Analyses of underwater video and corresponding acoustic recordings revealed a distressed dolphin (the DD) that frequently produced what are most likely distress calls, often paired with the emission of long bubble streams. The frequency of her whistle production was positively correlated with the frequency of the supporting behaviors the DD received from other dolphins. These helping behaviors included raft formations, lifts, and stimulating pushes that were predominantly directed toward the upper third of the DD's body, all of which appeared to be directed towards bringing the DD toward the surface so that she could breathe. This is the first documented underwater account of multiple wild bottlenose dolphins providing epimeletic care to a distressed conspecific, and highlights the possible role of distress calls in such scenarios.

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“…This study also used an interactive playback design to elicit calling in the focal animal, enabling the experimenter to then choose which stimuli to play back from a selection of computer-synthesized dolphin whistles with the use of computer hotkeys. Both these studies, along with [8], nicely demonstrate how interactive playback can be used to examine which call latencies are important in mediating vocal interactions [32,34].…”

Section: A Brief History Of Interactive Playbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, it has been shown that interactive playbacks are significantly more effective at eliciting antiphonal calling in common marmosets than traditional playback techniques [33]. The second study used experimenteroperated interactive playback software to show that the immediate matching of vocal signals is a friendly means of addressing in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) [34]. It identified a critical time interval during which animals must exchange signals in order to successfully address one another.…”

Section: A Brief History Of Interactive Playbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can be particularly useful if the subject needs to be engaged in order for a playback experiment to be conducted. Experimental stimuli that are salient to the species can therefore be used to initiate calling in the focal animal [5,34,35]. The third is perhaps considered truly interactive in the sense that the experimenter or an automated routine continually makes decisions on the type and timing of calls to play back based on the animal's currently changing vocal behaviour [2,3,14].…”

Section: Interactive Playback: Design and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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You talkin’ to me? Interactive playback is a powerful yet underused tool in animal communication research

King

2015

Biol. Lett.

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Over the years, playback experiments have helped further our understanding of the wonderful world of animal communication. They have provided fundamental insights into animal behaviour and the function of communicative signals in numerous taxa. As important as these experiments are, however, there is strong evidence to suggest that the information conveyed in a signal may only have value when presented interactively. By their very nature, signalling exchanges are interactive and therefore, an interactive playback design is a powerful tool for examining the function of such exchanges. While researchers working on frog and songbird vocal interactions have long championed interactive playback, it remains surprisingly underused across other taxa. The interactive playback approach is not limited to studies of acoustic signalling, but can be applied to other sensory modalities, including visual, chemical and electrical communication. Here, I discuss interactive playback as a potent yet underused technique in the field of animal behaviour. I present a concise review of studies that have used interactive playback thus far, describe how it can be applied, and discuss its limitations and challenges. My hope is that this review will result in more scientists applying this innovative technique to their own study subjects, as a means of furthering our understanding of the function of signalling interactions in animal communication systems.

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The role of signature whistle matching in bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus

Cited by 50 publications

References 53 publications

Pectoral fin contact as a mechanism for social bonding among dolphins

Pectoral fin contact as a mechanism for social bonding among dolphins

Underwater observations of dolphin reactions to a distressed conspecific

You talkin’ to me? Interactive playback is a powerful yet underused tool in animal communication research

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