Data from: Kin selection and allocare in sperm whales ...
Cooperative care and defense of young are hypothesized to be foundational to the societies of several species, including the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). However, the extent of allocare among sperm whales and the mechanisms driving it have not been well-characterized. Sperm whale social uni...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Dataset |
| Language: | English |
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Dryad
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.34j84c0 https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.34j84c0 |
| Summary: | Cooperative care and defense of young are hypothesized to be foundational to the societies of several species, including the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). However, the extent of allocare among sperm whales and the mechanisms driving it have not been well-characterized. Sperm whale social units are matrilineally-based, making kin selection a likely key driver of allocare, but the relationship between kinship and calf care is essentially unknown. We investigate calf care in the context of kinship, by combining association and interaction data with genetic profiles for 16 calves from 7 eastern Caribbean social units. Mothers were the primary associate for 62.5% of calves, and the primary nurse for 87.5%, so behavioral observations are not always sufficient for assigning maternity. Babysitting and allonursing were frequent in some cases, particularly for calves less than a year old. Within social units, babysitting rates were correlated with relatedness (rs = 0.4, p < 0.05), and allonurses were, on ... : Konrad_Sperm_Whale_PhotoID_Dominica_2005_2016Identifiation data for sperm whales off Dominica 2005-2016 ... |
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