Young dolphins pick their friends wisely
Dolphins choose childhood friends that set them up for success as adults


Date:
July 23, 2020
Source:
Duke University
Summary:
Strategic networking is key to career success, and not just for
humans. A study of bottlenose dolphins reveals that in early life,
dolphins devote more time to building connections that could give
them an edge later on.

Analyzing nearly 30 years of records for some 1700 dolphins in
Australia, researchers find that dolphins under age 10 seek out
peers and activities that could help them forge bonds and build
skills they'll need in adulthood.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Strategic networking is key to career success, and not just for humans. A
new study of wild bottlenose dolphins reveals that in early life,
dolphins devote more time to building connections that could give them
an edge later on.


========================================================================== Researchers at Georgetown University and Duke University report that
dolphins under age 10 seek out peers and activities that could help them
forge bonds and build skills they'll need in adulthood.

The results were published July 14 in the journal Behavioral Ecology.

The team analyzed nearly 30 years' worth of records for more than 1700
wild bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia. Since the
1980s, researchers have been taking boats out into this remote bay
and noting things like the sex, age and behavior of any dolphins they encountered.

For the current study, the team focused on data collected on youngsters
from weaning to age 10, looking at who they hung out with and how they
spent their time when no adults were around.

Around 3 or 4 years old, dolphins leave the protection of their mothers
to venture off on their own, living in ever-changing groups that come
together, split up and come together again in different combinations.



==========================================================================
The study revealed that, even though young dolphins flit from group to
group as often as every ten minutes throughout the day, they tend to
spend more time with a few close friends.

These companions aren't just friends because they share the same areas
of water and bump into each other more often, the research shows. "These relationships reflect true preferences," said first author Allison Galezo,
a biology Ph.D.

student in professor Susan Alberts' lab at Duke.

Males prefer to hang out with other males; females with other females. But
the researchers observed that males and females tend to interact in
different ways.

Males were more likely than females to spend their time together resting
or engaged in friendly physical contact: rubbing flippers, swimming
close together and mirroring each other's movements. Whereas females
socialized less often, and instead spent twice as much time as their
male counterparts foraging for fish.

These differences suggest that the social lives of young dolphins may
be shaped by the upcoming demands of adulthood, Galezo said.

For adult males, having other males in their corner is key to have a
chance at passing on their genes. In Shark Bay, groups of two to three
male dolphins often join forces to get fertile females alone with them
and coerce them to mate. By the time they grow up, males will need
to have enough social savvy to build and maintain strong alliances,
or lose out on their chance to get a girl.

Being a successful adult female, on the other hand, means caring for
calves that aren't weaned until they're at least three years old. Nursing
moms need more calories, and so young females may spend more time foraging
to practice skills they'll need later on, before the full realities of motherhood set in.

"The juvenile period can be an opportunity to develop social skills that
will be important in adulthood, without the high-stakes risks that go
with sexual maturity," Galezo said.

This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (0847922, 0820722, 9753044, 0316800, 0918308, 0941487, 1559380, 1755229)
and by Georgetown University.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Duke_University. Original written
by Robin A. Smith.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Janet Mann, Ce'line H Fre`re, Ewa Krzyszczyk, Vivienne Foroughirad,
Allison A Galezo. Juvenile social dynamics reflect adult
reproductive strategies in bottlenose dolphins. Behavioral Ecology,
2020; DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa068 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723172000.htm

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