Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire
Intraspecific conflict can be costly; therefore, many species engage in ritualized contests composed of several stages. Each stage is typically characterized by different levels of aggression, arousal, and physical conflict. During these different levels of “intensity,” animals benefit from communic...
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2021
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2021.665186 2024-02-11T10:05:45+01:00 Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire Cusano, Dana A. Paton, David Noad, Michael J. Dunlop, Rebecca A. Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 8 ISSN 2296-7745 Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography journal-article 2021 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186 2024-01-26T09:57:20Z Intraspecific conflict can be costly; therefore, many species engage in ritualized contests composed of several stages. Each stage is typically characterized by different levels of aggression, arousal, and physical conflict. During these different levels of “intensity,” animals benefit from communicating potential information related to features such as resource holding potential, relative fighting ability, level of aggression, intent (i.e., fight or flight), and whether or not the competitor currently holds the resource (e.g., a receptive female). This information may be conveyed using both visual displays and a complex acoustic repertoire containing fixed (e.g., age, sex, and body size) and flexible information (e.g., motivation or arousal). Calls that contain fixed information are generally considered “discrete” or stereotyped, while calls that convey flexible information are more “graded,” existing along an acoustic continuum. The use of displays and calls, and the potential information they convey, is likely dependent on factors like intensity level. The breeding system of humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) involves intense male competition for access to a relatively limited number of breeding females (the resource). Here, we investigated the behavior and acoustic repertoire of competitive groups of humpback whales to determine if an increase in intensity level of the group was correlated with an increase in the complexity of the vocal repertoire. We categorized the behavior of humpback whales in competitive groups into three mutually exclusive stages from low to high intensity. While discrete calls were infrequent compared to graded calls overall, their use was highest in “low” and “moderate” intensity groups, which may indicate that this stage of contest is important for assessing the relative resource holding potential of competitors. In contrast, visual displays, call rates, and the use of graded call types, were highest during “high intensity” competitive groups. This suggests that flexible ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Megaptera novaeangliae Frontiers (Publisher) Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
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Open Polar |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
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topic |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
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Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography Cusano, Dana A. Paton, David Noad, Michael J. Dunlop, Rebecca A. Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire |
topic_facet |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
description |
Intraspecific conflict can be costly; therefore, many species engage in ritualized contests composed of several stages. Each stage is typically characterized by different levels of aggression, arousal, and physical conflict. During these different levels of “intensity,” animals benefit from communicating potential information related to features such as resource holding potential, relative fighting ability, level of aggression, intent (i.e., fight or flight), and whether or not the competitor currently holds the resource (e.g., a receptive female). This information may be conveyed using both visual displays and a complex acoustic repertoire containing fixed (e.g., age, sex, and body size) and flexible information (e.g., motivation or arousal). Calls that contain fixed information are generally considered “discrete” or stereotyped, while calls that convey flexible information are more “graded,” existing along an acoustic continuum. The use of displays and calls, and the potential information they convey, is likely dependent on factors like intensity level. The breeding system of humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) involves intense male competition for access to a relatively limited number of breeding females (the resource). Here, we investigated the behavior and acoustic repertoire of competitive groups of humpback whales to determine if an increase in intensity level of the group was correlated with an increase in the complexity of the vocal repertoire. We categorized the behavior of humpback whales in competitive groups into three mutually exclusive stages from low to high intensity. While discrete calls were infrequent compared to graded calls overall, their use was highest in “low” and “moderate” intensity groups, which may indicate that this stage of contest is important for assessing the relative resource holding potential of competitors. In contrast, visual displays, call rates, and the use of graded call types, were highest during “high intensity” competitive groups. This suggests that flexible ... |
author2 |
Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cusano, Dana A. Paton, David Noad, Michael J. Dunlop, Rebecca A. |
author_facet |
Cusano, Dana A. Paton, David Noad, Michael J. Dunlop, Rebecca A. |
author_sort |
Cusano, Dana A. |
title |
Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire |
title_short |
Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire |
title_full |
Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire |
title_fullStr |
Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire |
title_full_unstemmed |
Socially Complex Breeding Interactions in Humpback Whales Are Mediated Using a Complex Acoustic Repertoire |
title_sort |
socially complex breeding interactions in humpback whales are mediated using a complex acoustic repertoire |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186/full |
genre |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 8 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.665186 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
_version_ |
1790602914467676160 |