Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units
It is hypothesized that the primary function of permanent social relationships among female sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) is to provide allomothers for calves at the surface while mothers make foraging dives. In order to investigate how reciprocity of allocare within units of sperm whales...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 2024-09-15T18:30:30+00:00 Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units Gero, Shane Gordon, Jonathan Whitehead, Hal 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 280, issue 1763, page 20131113 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2013 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 2024-09-02T04:21:09Z It is hypothesized that the primary function of permanent social relationships among female sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) is to provide allomothers for calves at the surface while mothers make foraging dives. In order to investigate how reciprocity of allocare within units of sperm whales facilitates group living, we constructed weighted social networks based on yearly matrices of associations (2005–2010) and correlated them across years, through changes in age and social role, to study changes in social relationships within seven sperm whale units. Pairs of association matrices from sequential years showed a greater positive correlation than expected by chance, but as the time lag increased, the correlation coefficients decreased. Over all units considered, calves had high values for all measured network statistics, while mothers had intermediate values for most of the measures, but high values for connectedness and affinity. Mothers showed sharp drops in strength and connectedness in the first year of their new calves' lives. These broad patterns appear to be consistent across units. Calves appeared to be significant nodes in the network of the social unit, and thus provide quantitative support for the theory in which communal care acts as the evolutionary force behind group formation in this species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280 1763 20131113 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
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English |
description |
It is hypothesized that the primary function of permanent social relationships among female sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) is to provide allomothers for calves at the surface while mothers make foraging dives. In order to investigate how reciprocity of allocare within units of sperm whales facilitates group living, we constructed weighted social networks based on yearly matrices of associations (2005–2010) and correlated them across years, through changes in age and social role, to study changes in social relationships within seven sperm whale units. Pairs of association matrices from sequential years showed a greater positive correlation than expected by chance, but as the time lag increased, the correlation coefficients decreased. Over all units considered, calves had high values for all measured network statistics, while mothers had intermediate values for most of the measures, but high values for connectedness and affinity. Mothers showed sharp drops in strength and connectedness in the first year of their new calves' lives. These broad patterns appear to be consistent across units. Calves appeared to be significant nodes in the network of the social unit, and thus provide quantitative support for the theory in which communal care acts as the evolutionary force behind group formation in this species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gero, Shane Gordon, Jonathan Whitehead, Hal |
spellingShingle |
Gero, Shane Gordon, Jonathan Whitehead, Hal Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units |
author_facet |
Gero, Shane Gordon, Jonathan Whitehead, Hal |
author_sort |
Gero, Shane |
title |
Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units |
title_short |
Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units |
title_full |
Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units |
title_fullStr |
Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units |
title_full_unstemmed |
Calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units |
title_sort |
calves as social hubs: dynamics of the social network within sperm whale units |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 |
genre |
Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 280, issue 1763, page 20131113 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1113 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
280 |
container_issue |
1763 |
container_start_page |
20131113 |
_version_ |
1810471970799616000 |