Individual foraging specializations in marine mammals: Culture and ecology

Richard C. Connor

doi:10.1017/S0140525X01283964

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Rendell and Whitehead argue persuasively that individual foraging specializations, if socially learned, are examples of cetacean culture. However, they discount ecological variation experienced by individuals within a population as a factor in such behavior. I suggest that ecological variation may play an important role in individual foraging specializations and describe several ecological parameters that may help us understand the high frequency of this interesting behavior in the marine habitat.

Crossref Citations

This article has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.

Whitehead, Hal Rendell, Luke Osborne, Richard W and Würsig, Bernd 2004. Culture and conservation of non-humans with reference to whales and dolphins: review and new directions. Biological Conservation, Vol. 120, Issue. 3, p. 427.

Gazda, Stefanie K. Connor, Richard C. Edgar, Robert K. and Cox, Frank 2005. A division of labour with role specialization in group–hunting bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ) off Cedar Key, Florida . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 272, Issue. 1559, p. 135.

Connor, Richard Mann, Janet and Watson‐Capps, Jana 2006. A Sex‐Specific Affiliative Contact Behavior in Indian Ocean Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops sp.. Ethology, Vol. 112, Issue. 7, p. 631.

Connor, Richard C 2007. Dolphin social intelligence: complex alliance relationships in bottlenose dolphins and a consideration of selective environments for extreme brain size evolution in mammals. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 362, Issue. 1480, p. 587.

Torres, Leigh G. and Read, Andrew J. 2009. Where to catch a fish? The influence of foraging tactics on the ecology of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Florida Bay, Florida. Marine Mammal Science, Vol. 25, Issue. 4, p. 797.

Bacher, K. Allen, S. Lindholm, A. K. Bejder, L. and Krützen, M. 2010. Genes or Culture: Are Mitochondrial Genes Associated with Tool Use in Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops sp.)?. Behavior Genetics, Vol. 40, Issue. 5, p. 706.

Biro, Dora Sasaki, Takao and Portugal, Steven J. 2016. Bringing a Time–Depth Perspective to Collective Animal Behaviour. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Vol. 31, Issue. 7, p. 550.

O'Brien, O. Allen, S.J. Krützen, M. and Connor, R.C. 2020. Alliance-specific habitat selection by male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Animal Behaviour, Vol. 164, Issue. , p. 39.

Kusch, Jillian M. and Lane, Jeffrey E. 2021. Variation of social strategies within and between individual black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) during the reproductive season. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Vol. 75, Issue. 1,

Lemos, Leila S. Olsen, Amy Smith, Angela Burnett, Jonathan D. Chandler, Todd E. Larson, Shawn Hunt, Kathleen E. and Torres, Leigh G. 2022. Stressed and slim or relaxed and chubby? A simultaneous assessment of gray whale body condition and hormone variability. Marine Mammal Science, Vol. 38, Issue. 2, p. 801.

Notarbartolo di Sciara, Giuseppe and Würsig, Bernd 2022. Marine Mammals: the Evolving Human Factor. p. 425.

Olivé‐Muñiz, Marta Pagani‐Núñez, Emilio Kretzmann, Maria and Carlos Senar, Juan 2024. Did you learn what to eat from your parents? A test of the early learning of the foraging niche hypothesis in great tits Parus major. Journal of Avian Biology,

Article contents

Individual foraging specializations in marine mammals: Culture and ecology

Abstract

Save article to Kindle

Save article to Dropbox

Save article to Google Drive

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

You have entered the maximum number of contributors

Conflicting interests