Evidence from sperm whale clans of symbolic marking in non-human cultures

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Hersh, Taylor A., Gero, Shane, Rendell, Luke, Cantor, Maurício, Weilgart, Lindy, Amano, Masao, Dawson, Stephen M., Slooten, Elisabeth, Johnson, Christopher M., Kerr, Iain, Payne, Roger, Rogan, Andy, Antunes, Ricardo, Andrews, Olive, Ferguson, Elizabeth L., Hom-Weaver, Cory Ann, Norris, Thomas F., Barkley, Yvonne M., Merkens, Karlina P., Oleson, Erin M., Doniol-Valcroze, Thomas, Pilkington, James F., Gordon, Jonathan, Fernandes, Manuel, Guerra, Marta, Hickmott, Leigh, Whitehead, Hal
• Other Authors: University of St Andrews.School of Biology, University of St Andrews.Centre for Social Learning & Cognitive Evolution, University of St Andrews.Centre for Biological Diversity, University of St Andrews.Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews.Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences, University of St Andrews.Bioacoustics group, University of St Andrews.Marine Alliance for Science & Technology Scotland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Culture; Symbolic markers; Bioacoustics; Distribution; Sperm whales; QH301 Biology; QL Zoology; DAS; MCC; QH301; QL; Pacific; Pillar; Sperm whale
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10023/27122; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201692119

Culture, a pillar of the remarkable ecological success of humans, is increasingly recognized as a powerful force structuring nonhuman animal populations. A key gap between these two types of culture is quantitative evidence of symbolic markers—seemingly arbitrary traits that function as reliable ind...