Follow for more talkers

Bottlenose Wingmen? Dolphins help each other find potential mates

Dolphins build more tactical alliances than any species other than humans.

Avatar photo

Published

on
(SWNS)

By Pol Allingham via SWNS

Dolphins build more tactical alliances than any species other than humans - to boost their chances of reproducing, reveals new research.

University of Bristol scientists discovered that male bottlenoses’ alliances work on three levels: at the top, a male dolphin will work with two or three close allies to court females.

Next, four to 14 allies will compete against other alliances for access to the females.

And third, these larger groups collaborate again for the same goal.

The research team compared the dolphin’s alliances with our international trade or military relationships, which were once thought to be the reserve of humankind.

Co-lead author Dr. Stephanie King, Associate Professor from Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, said: “Cooperation between allies is widespread in human societies and one of the hallmarks of our success.

“Our capacity to build strategic, cooperative relationships at multiple social levels, such as trade or military alliances both nationally and internationally, was once thought unique to our species.

“Not only have we shown that male bottlenose dolphins form the largest known multilevel alliance network outside humans, but that cooperative relationships between groups, rather than simply alliance size, allows males to spend more time with females, thereby increasing their reproductive success.”

Previously the fact humans make these tactical partnerships was thought to distinguish us from our chimpanzee ancestors.

Bottlenose Dolphin
(Greens and Blues via Shutterstock)

Our alliances were thought to be born from the evolution of pair bonds and men caring as parents, but this dolphin study unveiled coupling up and caring fathers are not essential to make a team.

The research team checked out 121 adult male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins at Shark Bay, Western Australia, for the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Study co-lead author Professor Richard Connor, of the University of Massachusetts, said: “Our results show that intergroup alliances can emerge without these features, from a social and mating system that is more chimpanzee-like.”

The male dolphins rely on being linked up with their allies to bond with the females, reaping long-term benefits from tactically getting along well.

Dr. Simon Allen, Senior Lecturer at Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences, who contributed to the study, said: “Not only have we shown that male bottlenose dolphins form the largest known multilevel alliance network outside humans, but that cooperative relationship between groups, rather than simply alliance size, allows males to spend more time with females, thereby increasing their reproductive success.”

“We show that the duration over which these teams of male dolphins consort females is dependent upon being well-connected with third-order allies, that is, social ties between alliances lead to long-term benefits for these males.”

It’s unusual for anthropology departments to study animals that aren’t humans, but the investigation has shed light on how our character traits came about.

Professor Michael KrĂŒtzen, of the University of Zurich, added; “It is rare for non-primate research to be conducted from an anthropology department, but our study shows that important insights about the evolution of characteristics previously thought to be uniquely human can be gained by examining other highly social, large-brained taxa”.

Dr. King concluded: “Our work highlights that dolphin societies, as well as those of nonhuman primates, are valuable model systems for understanding human social and cognitive evolution.”

Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.

Top Talkers