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The functional significance of colouration in cetaceans

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Abstract

Cetaceans show many of the classic mammalian colouration patterns, such as uniform colouration, countershading, and prominent patches of colour, all within one relatively small taxon. We collated all the functional hypotheses for cetacean colouration that have been put forward in the literature and systematically tested them using comparative phylogenetic analyses. We found that countershading is a mechanism by which smaller cetacean species may avoid being seen by their prey. We discovered that prominent markings are associated with group living, fast swimming, and ostentatious behaviour at the surface, suggesting that they function in intraspecific communication. White markings on several parts of the body seem to be involved in the capture of fish, squid, and krill. Therefore, several different selection pressures have shaped the great diversity of skin colouration seen in extant cetaceans, although background matching, disruptive colouration and interspecific communication do not appear to be involved.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Biological Computing and Resource Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for computing resources to run the phylogenetic analyses, Hatch funding to UC Davis, and two anonymous reviewers for comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Tim Caro

  2. Department of Animal Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Karrie Beeman

  3. Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Theodore Stankowich

  4. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4J1, Canada

    Hal Whitehead

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  1. Tim Caro
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  3. Theodore Stankowich
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Correspondence to Tim Caro.

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10682_2011_9479_MOESM1_ESM.xls

Supplementary material 1 (XLS 59 kb). Appendix 1. Variables used in this study; see Tables 1 and 2 for meaning of numbers in the body of the appendix, – denotes missing data. Column headings: UorS, uniform or spotted; CS, countershaded; DM, distinctive mark; WH, white head; WD, white dorsum; WF, white ventral fin; Wfl, white flank, ES, eye stripe; Tr, tropical waters; Te, temperate waters; MW, murky waters; Group, group size; Inter, interspecific associations; Food, main food type (F: fish, S: squid, K: krill); Poly, polygamous; D, depth; S, speed; SB, synchronous behaviour; DM, Demonstrative behaviour; * Balaenoptera edeni or B. brydei

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Caro, T., Beeman, K., Stankowich, T. et al. The functional significance of colouration in cetaceans. Evol Ecol 25, 1231–1245 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-011-9479-5

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