Population biology, social behavior and communication in whales and dolphins

The baleen whales differ from the toothed whales and dolphins in life history and in social organization. Even though they grow to a larger size, young baleen whales tend to develop more rapidly than dolphins and toothed whales. Except for the mother-calf bond, most groups of baleen whales are short...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Main Author: Tyack, Peter
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 1986
Subjects:
Online Access:https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/researchoutput/population-biology-social-behavior-and-communication-in-whales-and-dolphins(3d06e3a4-c16e-4f68-845b-594229b168a6).html
https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(86)90042-X
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0022848818&partnerID=8YFLogxK
Description
Summary:The baleen whales differ from the toothed whales and dolphins in life history and in social organization. Even though they grow to a larger size, young baleen whales tend to develop more rapidly than dolphins and toothed whales. Except for the mother-calf bond, most groups of baleen whales are short-lived, lasting only for hours, and individual-specific associations appear to be exceptions to the norm. Most toothed whales live in more structured groups, in which young animals have a long period of dependency and social learning. The communication signals described for different cetacean species have functions suited to the interactions that predominate in their societies.