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Individual patterns of tonal (whistling) signals of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates) kept in relative isolation

  • Zoology
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Abstract

The results of study of the subaqueous acoustic signaling of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiopsis truncatus) in a dolphinarium are shown. Individual patterns of whistling signals of four individuals were described and analyzed. To determine which animal produced the sound, the method of “relative isolation” was used. It was found that the pattern included whistles specific for a particular individual (“signature whistles”). The percentage of these whistles in the patterns varied considerably among individuals. The signatures had variable frequency and duration. The phenomenon of “imitation” was typical for animals at higher positions in the hierarchy: generating “signatures” specific for other individuals. Besides the signatures, variable signals and whistles with simple frequency contours were found in the patterns.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Nakhimovskii 36, Moscow, 117997, Russia

    A. V. Agafonov

  2. Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia

    E. M. Panova

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  1. A. V. Agafonov
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  2. E. M. Panova
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Correspondence to A. V. Agafonov.

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Original Russian Text © A.V. Agafonov, E.M. Panova, 2012, published in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaya, 2012, No. 5, pp. 509–520.

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Agafonov, A.V., Panova, E.M. Individual patterns of tonal (whistling) signals of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates) kept in relative isolation. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 39, 430–440 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359012050020

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