Princeton University Library Catalog
- Author/Artist:
- Thean, Tara [Browse]
- Format:
- Senior thesis
- Language:
- English
- Advisor(s):
- Gould, James [Browse]
- Department:
- Princeton University. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology [Browse]
- Class year:
- 2013
- Description:
- 133 pages
- Restrictions note:
- This content is embargoed until October 8, 2088. For more information contact the Mudd Manuscript Library.
- Summary note:
- Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) develop signature whistles to convey
identity information and maintain group cohesion. These animals are thought to
be capable of vocal learning: they may incorporate whistle modulation patterns
from community members into their own. It is unclear which members free-ranging
calves use as models, however, and whether those members differ between wild and
captive dolphins. Using 69 wild calves recorded in Florida between 1984 and 2012,
I sought to identify a relationship between the strength of a calf's association with
other dolphins during its development, and the similarity between their whistles. We
found a significant correlation between the similarity of only the males' whistles to
those of their associates (p < 0.05, n=32, 1428 comparisons). This correlation was
not particularly strong, however (r = 0.027), suggesting that the positive correlation
between association and whistle similarity for male dolphins is small. Meanwhile,
a greater proportion of captive dolphins develop whistles very similar to those of
their close associates than do free-ranging dolphins. These results suggest that wild
and captive dolphins have different rules in signature whistle development, possibly
governed by social group composition.
