Dear colleagues, On behalf of my co-authors, I pleased to announce publication of the following paper on dolphin gregariousness in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. You may find the abstract below and the full article may be accessed here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-019-2763-z You may also contact me for reprint requests.
Pearson HC, Jones PW, Brandon TP, Stockin KA, Machovsky-Capuska GE. 2019. A biologging perspective to the drivers that shape gregariousness in dusky dolphins. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 73:155. Knowledge of proximate (causation and development) and ultimate (evolution and survival function) causes of gregariousness is necessary to advance our knowledge of animal societies. Delphinids are among the most social taxa; however, fine-scale understanding of their intra-specific relationships is hindered by the need for underwater observations on individuals. We developed a non-invasive animal-borne camera system with the goal of examining influences on gregariousness in dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus). We analyzed video and diving records from 11 individual dusky dolphins off Kaikoura, New Zealand. We examined the influence of biologger attachment on dolphin behavior and tested hypotheses regarding the effects of physiology, predation, and inter-individual variation on conspecific interactions. Dolphins did not exhibit increased rates of descent or ascent in the minutes immediately following biologger attachment, indicating a lack of behavioral response. Respiration rate was positively related to dive depth and duration, suggesting that diving is energetically expensive for this species. Gregariousness was negatively related to dive depth providing evidence that the physiological constraints of diving are likely to limit social behavior. Calves were not observed more frequently in infant (vs. echelon) position with increasing depth, highlighting the likelihood of other anti-predation strategies (e.g., dilution effect) in mother-calf pairs. We found that gregariousness differed between individuals within similar social groups, suggesting the importance of collecting data at the individual level. The evidence presented herein suggests that the further development of animal-borne camera systems will yield further insight into the mechanisms underlying delphinid social behavior. best regards, Heidi Heidi Pearson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Marine Biology Department of Natural Sciences, University of Alaska Southeast & College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks Address: 11066 Auke Lake Way, AND 1, Juneau, AK 99801 Phone: 907.796.6271 E-mail: hcpear...@alaska.edu Website: https://online.uas.alaska.edu/online/portfolio/HCPEARSON
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