Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean
This study aimed at complementing studies of sperm whale social and vocal behaviour that were restricted to the Pacific Ocean. The characteristic multi-pulsed structure of sperm whale clicks allows for estimation of whales' size from measurements of the inter-pulse intervals (IPI). I have devel...
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University of St Andrews
2009
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ftstandrewserep:oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/827 2023-07-02T03:33:05+02:00 Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean Antunes, Ricardo Gordon, Jonathan Rendell, Luke Hammond, Philip S. 135 2009-12-10T11:46:59Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10023/827 en eng University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews uk.bl.ethos.552300 http://hdl.handle.net/10023/827 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Sperm whale Behaviour QL737.C435A6 Sperm whale--Behavior--North Atlantic Ocean Sperm whale--Vocalization Animal communication Sound production by animals Thesis Doctoral PhD Doctor of Philosophy 2009 ftstandrewserep 2023-06-13T18:25:46Z This study aimed at complementing studies of sperm whale social and vocal behaviour that were restricted to the Pacific Ocean. The characteristic multi-pulsed structure of sperm whale clicks allows for estimation of whales' size from measurements of the inter-pulse intervals (IPI). I have developed two new automatic methods for IPI estimation from clicks recorded during foraging dives. When compared to other previously developed methods, the newly developed method that averages several clicks' autocorrelation function showed the best performance amongst the automatic methods. Previous studies did not support individual identity advertisement among social unit members as the function for the sperm whale communication signals called codas. I tested within coda type variation for individual specific patterns and found that, while some coda types do not allow for individual discrimination, one did so. This variation suggests that different coda types may have distinct functions. Analysis of social structure in the Azores found that, similar to the Eastern Tropical Pacific, sperm whales form long term social units of about 12 individuals. Unlike the Pacific Ocean, Azorean social units do not form temporary groups with other units, suggesting differences in the costs and benefits of group formation. I argue that these are due to differences in terms of predation pressure and intraspecific competition between the Azores and the Pacific study sites. The variation of coda repertoires in the Atlantic also showed a pattern dissimilar to that previously documented in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. In the North Atlantic, coda repertoire variation is mostly geographic, which is parsimoniously explained by random drift of culturally transmitted coda repertoires. No sympatric vocal clans with distinct dialects were found as has been noted in the Pacific. Drawing upon the differences found in social structure I argue that selection for maximization of differences between units with similar foraging strategies may have led to the ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftstandrewserep |
language |
English |
topic |
Sperm whale Behaviour QL737.C435A6 Sperm whale--Behavior--North Atlantic Ocean Sperm whale--Vocalization Animal communication Sound production by animals |
spellingShingle |
Sperm whale Behaviour QL737.C435A6 Sperm whale--Behavior--North Atlantic Ocean Sperm whale--Vocalization Animal communication Sound production by animals Antunes, Ricardo Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean |
topic_facet |
Sperm whale Behaviour QL737.C435A6 Sperm whale--Behavior--North Atlantic Ocean Sperm whale--Vocalization Animal communication Sound production by animals |
description |
This study aimed at complementing studies of sperm whale social and vocal behaviour that were restricted to the Pacific Ocean. The characteristic multi-pulsed structure of sperm whale clicks allows for estimation of whales' size from measurements of the inter-pulse intervals (IPI). I have developed two new automatic methods for IPI estimation from clicks recorded during foraging dives. When compared to other previously developed methods, the newly developed method that averages several clicks' autocorrelation function showed the best performance amongst the automatic methods. Previous studies did not support individual identity advertisement among social unit members as the function for the sperm whale communication signals called codas. I tested within coda type variation for individual specific patterns and found that, while some coda types do not allow for individual discrimination, one did so. This variation suggests that different coda types may have distinct functions. Analysis of social structure in the Azores found that, similar to the Eastern Tropical Pacific, sperm whales form long term social units of about 12 individuals. Unlike the Pacific Ocean, Azorean social units do not form temporary groups with other units, suggesting differences in the costs and benefits of group formation. I argue that these are due to differences in terms of predation pressure and intraspecific competition between the Azores and the Pacific study sites. The variation of coda repertoires in the Atlantic also showed a pattern dissimilar to that previously documented in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. In the North Atlantic, coda repertoire variation is mostly geographic, which is parsimoniously explained by random drift of culturally transmitted coda repertoires. No sympatric vocal clans with distinct dialects were found as has been noted in the Pacific. Drawing upon the differences found in social structure I argue that selection for maximization of differences between units with similar foraging strategies may have led to the ... |
author2 |
Gordon, Jonathan Rendell, Luke Hammond, Philip S. |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Antunes, Ricardo |
author_facet |
Antunes, Ricardo |
author_sort |
Antunes, Ricardo |
title |
Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_short |
Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full |
Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Variation in sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the North Atlantic Ocean |
title_sort |
variation in sperm whale (physeter macrocephalus) coda vocalizations and social structure in the north atlantic ocean |
publisher |
University of St Andrews |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/827 |
op_coverage |
135 |
geographic |
Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Physeter macrocephalus Sperm whale |
op_relation |
uk.bl.ethos.552300 http://hdl.handle.net/10023/827 |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ |
_version_ |
1770272892551954432 |