Dear colleagues,

 

I am pleased to inform you of my last publication on bottlenose dolphins acoustic communication. The following paper is now available online which considers the context specificity of whistle characteristics.

  

Article title: Whistle characteristics in free-ranging bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Mediterranean Sea: influence of behaviour.

Journal title: Mammalian Biology

First author: Mr. Bruno Diaz Lopez

DOI information: 10.1016/j.mambio.2010.06.006

Abstract

Bottlenose dolphins(Tursiops truncatus) are an extremely vocal mammalian species and vocalcommunication plays an important role in mediating social interactions. Very little is known about how wild bottlenose dolphins use whistles in different contexts and no data exist for context specificity of whistle characteristics. This study describes, for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, the whistle characteristics of bottlenose dolphins in their natural repertoire. Over 35h of behavioural observations and simultaneous recordings, 

3032 tonal, frequency modulated whistles were detected. Our findings further support, for the first time in wild bottlenose dolphins, the suggestion that acoustic features may be good predictors of behavioural state and viceversa. These results advocate that these parameters may be used to communicate specific information on the behavioural context of the individuals involved. Additionally, visual inspection reveals that upsweeps and multilooped whistles play an important role in the natural communication system of bottlenose dolphins. Likewise, this study demonstrates how dynamic bottlenose dolphin 

whistle characteristics are and how important it is to consider many factors in analysis. High intraspecific variability in whistle characteristics demonstrates its integral role in the complex social lives of wild bottlenose dolphins. 

If you are interested in a reprint, please email Bruno Diaz Lopez at bruno@thebdri.com

 

This article is now published online at: 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2010.06.006

Best regards,