Community through culture: from insects to whales: how social learning and culture manifest across diverse animal communities

• Published in: BioEssays
• Main Author: Allen, Jenny A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2019
• Subjects: Resident Killer Whales; Humpback Whales; Population-Structure; Orcinus-Orca; Megaptera-Novaeangliae; Vocal Clans; Tool Use; Transmission; Behavior; Conformity; 1300 Biochemistry; Genetics and Molecular Biology; Megaptera novaeangliae; Orca; Orcinus orca
• Online Access: https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:4cf69e4/UQ4cf69e4_OA.pdf; https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:4cf69e4

It has become increasingly clear that social learning and culture occur much more broadly, and in a wider variety of animal communities, than initially believed. Recent research has expanded the list to include insects, fishes, elephants, and cetaceans. Such diversity allows scientists to expand the scope of potential research questions, which can help form a more complete understanding of animal culture than any single species can provide on its own. It is crucial to understand how culture and social learning present in different communities, as well as what influences community structure and culture may have on one another, so that the results across these different studies may most effectively inform one another. This review presents an overview of social learning in species across a spectrum of community structures, providing the necessary infrastructure to allow a comparison of studies that will help move the field of animal culture forward.