Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is inhabited by around 216 pilot whales, which are present all year round, and nothing is known about their social structure. The aim of this study is to analyse the inter-individual association patterns within this pilot whales community to (1) provide an insight on their lo...
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ftunivnantes:oai:HAL:hal-00339622v1 2023-05-15T17:03:37+02:00 Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar Stephanis, Renaud De Verborgh, P. Pérez, S. Esteban, R. Minvielle-Sébastia, L. Guinet, Christophe CIRCé Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut de biochimie et génétique cellulaires (IBGC) Université Bordeaux Segalen - Bordeaux 2-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2008-08-08 https://hal.science/hal-00339622 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 en eng HAL CCSD Springer Verlag info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 hal-00339622 https://hal.science/hal-00339622 doi:10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 ISSN: 0873-9749 EISSN: 1437-9546 Acta ethologica https://hal.science/hal-00339622 Acta ethologica, 2008, 11, pp.81-94. ⟨10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2⟩ Pilot whales . Social structure . Strait of Gibraltar . Cetacean [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2008 ftunivnantes https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 2023-02-08T03:54:24Z The Strait of Gibraltar is inhabited by around 216 pilot whales, which are present all year round, and nothing is known about their social structure. The aim of this study is to analyse the inter-individual association patterns within this pilot whales community to (1) provide an insight on their long-term social system and (2) to assess the relationship between sexes within this social system. Between 1999 and 2006, 23,004 km was sampled in the Strait of Gibraltar, and 4,887 images of dorsal fins of pilot whales were taken from 226 groups. The sex of 56 of the individuals could be determined genetically. The strength of the behavioural relationships between dyads of individuals was calculated, and the temporal aspects of the social structure were evaluated, showing in a non-random social structure made by constant companions. The preferred associations between individuals consisted in associations of males–females. Eight long-term units could be found with different degrees of association rates. Consequently, we propose that, in the Strait, the pilot whales exhibit a hierarchical social system composed of a population encompassing several clans of pilot whales each containing several pods. Pods will then be formed by several line units, similar to killer whale matrilineal units. Article in Journal/Newspaper Killer Whale Killer whale Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES acta ethologica 11 2 81 94 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université de Nantes: HAL-UNIV-NANTES |
op_collection_id |
ftunivnantes |
language |
English |
topic |
Pilot whales . Social structure . Strait of Gibraltar . Cetacean [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes |
spellingShingle |
Pilot whales . Social structure . Strait of Gibraltar . Cetacean [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes Stephanis, Renaud De Verborgh, P. Pérez, S. Esteban, R. Minvielle-Sébastia, L. Guinet, Christophe Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar |
topic_facet |
Pilot whales . Social structure . Strait of Gibraltar . Cetacean [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environmental and Society [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes |
description |
The Strait of Gibraltar is inhabited by around 216 pilot whales, which are present all year round, and nothing is known about their social structure. The aim of this study is to analyse the inter-individual association patterns within this pilot whales community to (1) provide an insight on their long-term social system and (2) to assess the relationship between sexes within this social system. Between 1999 and 2006, 23,004 km was sampled in the Strait of Gibraltar, and 4,887 images of dorsal fins of pilot whales were taken from 226 groups. The sex of 56 of the individuals could be determined genetically. The strength of the behavioural relationships between dyads of individuals was calculated, and the temporal aspects of the social structure were evaluated, showing in a non-random social structure made by constant companions. The preferred associations between individuals consisted in associations of males–females. Eight long-term units could be found with different degrees of association rates. Consequently, we propose that, in the Strait, the pilot whales exhibit a hierarchical social system composed of a population encompassing several clans of pilot whales each containing several pods. Pods will then be formed by several line units, similar to killer whale matrilineal units. |
author2 |
CIRCé Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut de biochimie et génétique cellulaires (IBGC) Université Bordeaux Segalen - Bordeaux 2-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stephanis, Renaud De Verborgh, P. Pérez, S. Esteban, R. Minvielle-Sébastia, L. Guinet, Christophe |
author_facet |
Stephanis, Renaud De Verborgh, P. Pérez, S. Esteban, R. Minvielle-Sébastia, L. Guinet, Christophe |
author_sort |
Stephanis, Renaud De |
title |
Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar |
title_short |
Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar |
title_full |
Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar |
title_fullStr |
Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar |
title_sort |
long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (globicephala melas) in the strait of gibraltar |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-00339622 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 |
genre |
Killer Whale Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Killer Whale Killer whale |
op_source |
ISSN: 0873-9749 EISSN: 1437-9546 Acta ethologica https://hal.science/hal-00339622 Acta ethologica, 2008, 11, pp.81-94. ⟨10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 hal-00339622 https://hal.science/hal-00339622 doi:10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2 |
container_title |
acta ethologica |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
81 |
op_container_end_page |
94 |
_version_ |
1766057522786992128 |