Wursig and Pearson (2013) Flashcards
Lone dolphin is _____; they are so _____
rare; social
What characteristics make up a dolphin’s social nature?
resting traveling foraging feeding social and sexual behavior
What are difference in sizes between riverine, nearshore dolphins and open-ocean group dolphins?
riverine and nearshore = small groups (few to several dozen)
open-ocean groups = large groups (100s to 1000s)
What makes up the characteristics of the habitat that influences the social structure of dolphins?
food, exposure/shelter to predators, resources, opportunities for and manner of communication, sociality and cognitive abilities
Define school/group/pod of dolphins.
those that regularly swim together
Small bodied dolphins live in ____ waters; may never come near island/continents
pelagic
Entire lives small bodied dolphins live within the _____ ______
school envelope
What type of society do small bodied dolphins have?
fission fusion and individual interchange
- sex and age mixed units
- nursery units
- mating units
- subadult units
What is the pro of having a large school?
overall enhancement of sensory awareness
-faster response time to large predators, sharks, and killer whales
How do mixed species groups of dolphins exhibit mutualism?
can potentially enhance group benefits such as vigilance against predators
-dolphins pay attention to each other while they coordinate travel and other movements
Dolphins are sexually ________
monomorphic
Pelagic dolphins practice ________
polygnandry (multiple partners)
Killer whales and pilot whales tend toward ______ ______ leading to _____ female bonds
social matriarchies; close
Greater size of pod is most efficient for what?
taking prey
Killer whales and pilot whales exhibit sexual ________
dimorphism
Describe activities of spinner dolphins.
vocal at night, large spinner school splits up = fission fusion society
Describe the friendship bonds in spinner dolphins.
composition of group varies but friendship bonds exist
- differences in affiliation are useful in maintaining and enhancing bonds
- nightime = coordinate cooperative feeding and form sexual partnerships
Describe what is mean by “macro fission fusion”
- dolphins move one atoll to another
- physically and socially integrated
- genetic diversity = low however
- intertoll matings take place
What are the three types of dolphins that switch between nearshore shallow and deep water pelagic zones?
- spinner dolphins
- Dusky dolphins
- shallow water bottlenose dolphin
Describe the activities of Dusky dolphins.
- feed on schooling, fishes in day (coasts with precipitous drop offs into oceanic waters)
- rest at night in shallow near shore waters
What is the social structure of Dusky Dolphins?
- fission fusion
- 10 dolphin subunits
What are the benefits of the 10 dolphin size subunits for Dusky Dolphins?
- protection against shark and killer predation, less conspicuous
- when killer approaches, hide in surf zone
Dusky Dolphins, foraging = ______
individual; alternate rest, social activities in day time => allows for collective sensory awareness
What are the activities of the Dusky dolphin?
rest, socializing, mating, nursing
Explain the effect of feeding strategies on cultural differences.
cultural differences between those feed year round and those that change foraging strategies and habitat according to season
Why is there no marked fission fusion in Argentinian Dusky Dolphins?
- low predation risk
- decrease prey availability
- not a smany duskies can fit into small bay
What is the social structure of the shallow water bottlenose dolphin?
highly dynamic fission fusion structure
(may change on time scales => hours to minutes)
-5 to 7 individuals
Compare the bonds with males and female shallow water bottlenose dolphins.
male bonds = stronger, coalitional behavior
female bonds =weaker, wider social network; bonds change according to reproductive status, ignore males except when cycling
Describe the difference between non schooling fish and schooling fish foraging strategies.
nonschooling fish = individual foraging strategies
schooling fish = cooperative strategies (Even with humans)
Describe killer whales in terms of social behavior.
- most cosmopolitan delphinid
- multilevel, multicultural
- neither sex emigrates from natal pod
Describe the differences between resident and transient killer whales.
transient = one or both sexes disperse, more fluid residents = forage in larger groups
(some say different species)
(True/False): Killers whales that are members of different ecotype do not mate/interact.
TRUE
-leads to reproductive isolation. genetic differentiation, persistence of the mammal eating versus fish eating strategies
What major evolutionary shift in division led to different cultures of killer whales?
- some eat fish
- some eat marine mammals
What is the significance of slow life history?
- cognitive adaptations and socioecological developments
- infant dependency => learning
- older females with no children also teach
Bottlenose dolphins have a ____ year development
4
Male dolphins ______ provide prenatal care
do not
What are the differences in how to gain reproductive success for female and male dolphins?
gaining access to food = reproductive success for females
gaining access to women = reproductive success for males
Group size and composition of schools and pods fluctuate according to what?
shifting balance of costs and benefits with prey, mating, predation risk
What facts suggest that there may be shared ancestry between dolphins and ungulates?
- few to single offspring
- prolonged periods of offspring dependency
- offspring following behavior
- large group formation for protection against predators
What is the “social brain hypothesis”?
-large relative brain size (large relative neocortex size) and complex cognition evolved to solve problems associated with monitoring changing group properties, social hierarchies and networks of relationships
Neocortex should ______ with brain size
increase
