Dear Marmamers,
We are pleased to announce the publication of the following
article in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology:
Abstract:
A good description of a social structure in which
individuals live in stable social groups must also capture individual
differences in social behaviour in order to understand the selective pressures
behind formation and maintenance of those groups. Depending on the evolutionary
mechanism acting and the nature of the benefits incurred by individuals, we
might expect different patterns of intra-group associations. Female and
immature sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus, Linnaeus 1758) live in
stable and partially matrilineal social units. Using photo identification and
sloughed skin sampling for genetic determination of sex and relatedness, we
investigated patterns of association within a social unit of sperm whales from the
eastern Caribbean. Focus was given to how short-term spatio-temporal
associations reflect relatedness among unit members. Contrary to previous
findings, we found that the patterns of association among members of this unit
were heterogeneous and that individuals had preferred associations or
avoidances with specific individuals. Furthermore, these preferred associations
correlate with relatedness between individuals, such that individuals
associated more with their close relatives when variation in sociability of the
individuals is controlled. These results are inconsistent with the simple
equivalence model of homogeneous associations between members of a social unit.
They indicate intra-unit social complexity, a basis for which seems to be
genetic relatedness.
Subscribers to Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology can
download Online Early copies along with the Electronic Supplementary Material
from http://www.springerlink.com/content/x258u61221257781/
Otherwise please contact me for preprints.
Cheers,
Shane
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Shane Gero, M.Sc.
NSERC Ph.D. Candidate
Honorary Killam Scholar
Whitehead Lab
Biology Dept.
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS
B3H 4J1 Canada
http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/sge/