Dear Colleagues,
My co-authors and I are pleased to share the recent publication of our paper in Mammalian Biology:
Delphine B. H. Chabanne, Michael Krützen, Hugh Finn, Simon J. Allen. (2022) Evidence of male alliance formation in a small dolphin community.
Mammalian Biology. doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00295-7.
Abstract: The photo-identification of uniquely marked individuals has revealed much about mammalian behaviour and social structure in recent decades. In bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.), for example, the long-term tracking
of individuals has unveiled considerable variation in social structure among populations and various spatio-temporal aspects of group formation. In this study, we investigated associations among individual males in a small community of Indo-Pacific bottlenose
dolphins (T. aduncus) residing in an urbanized estuary in southwestern Australia. Given the relative proximity of our study area to other populations in which complex male alliances form for the purpose of mate acquisition, we used long-term photo-identification
records and social analyses to assess whether such alliances also occur in smaller and more isolated settings. Our work revealed strong social bonds and long-term, non-random associations among individual males, suggesting the occurrence of male alliances.
Behavioural observations of alliances interacting with potentially receptive adult females from the estuary community and from adjacent communities, and exhibiting sexual display behaviours near females, suggest that these alliances occur in a reproductive
context. As the first formal analysis indicating the occurrence of male alliances outside Shark Bay along the vast western coastline of Australia, this study complements previous research and extends our understanding of the evolutionary and ecological processes
that drive alliance formation
A PDF copy can be viewed here:
https://rdcu.be/cYGCj.
Best regards,
Delphine
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Delphine Chabanne PhD
Research Fellow, Centre
for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
Harry Butler Institute
M +61 447 134 824
90 South St, Murdoch, WA 6150
@DChabanne |ORCID iD:
0000-0002-8391-7505
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Recent papers:
Evidence of male alliance formation in a small dolphin community. 2022.
Mammalian Biology. Doi:
10.1007/s42991-022-00295-7
Multi‑seasonal systematic camera‑trapping reveals fluctuating densities and high turnover
rates of Carpathian lynx on the western edge of its native range. 2021.
Scientific Reports 11, 9236. Doi:
10.1038/s41598-021-88348-8
Inconsistency between socio-spatial and genetic structure in a coastal dolphin population. 2021.
Frontiers in Marine Science 7:617540. Doi:
10.3389/fmars.2020.617540