Dear All,

We are placed to announce our new publication:

King S.L., Guarino E., Donegan K., Hecksher J., Jaakkola, K. (2016) Further 
insights into postpartum signature whistle use in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops 
truncatus). Marine Mammal Science. DOI: 10.1111/mms.12317

Summary:
Individual vocal signatures play an important role in facilitating maternal 
care in many animals. In those species where neonates are precocial immediately 
following parturition, the need for individual recognition between mother and 
offspring is paramount. In bottlenose dolphins such acoustic recognition 
signals, termed signature whistles, have been shown to be pivotal in 
mother-offspring recognition. Here we explored how female bottlenose dolphins 
used their signature whistle in the weeks leading up to and following the birth 
of their calves. We show that females significantly increased signature whistle 
production immediately after the birth of their female calves (LMER, P < 
0.0001). Average signature whistle rate increased from 0.14 whistles/min to 
0.78 whistles/min, representing a > five-fold increase in postpartum signature 
whistle production, with rates remaining high for four weeks after birth. Our 
findings complement those of Fripp and Tyack (2008), and offer further support 
to the imprinting hypothesis, where calves imprint on their mothers’ signature 
whistles immediately after parturition. The increase in maternal signature 
whistle use facilitates the calf’s recognition of its mother’s call before 
mother-calf separations occur. These results highlight the importance of 
postpartum signature whistle use in aiding mother-calf recognition in 
bottlenose dolphins and provide insight into one of the underlying mechanisms 
that aids mother-offspring recognition in species with precocial young.
You can access the paper here: 
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mms.12317/full

Or email me directly for a copy: 
stephanie.k...@uwa.edu.au<mailto:stephanie.k...@uwa.edu.au>

cheers,

Stephanie


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephanie L. King, PhD
Society in Science - Branco Weiss Fellow
Centre for Evolutionary Biology
School of Animal Biology
University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009
Ph +61 864881773 (W) +61 447 265840 (M)

www.sharkbaydolphins.org<http://www.sharkbaydolphins.org>

[cid:EA808840-1096-4F91-BFF3-9187312B10F9]


Please visit my homepage<http://www.slking.weebly.com> to find out more about 
my research.
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the 
office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” — Jack Kerouac




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