Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Grouping Behaviors of Dolphins and Other Toothed Whales

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Odontocetes

Part of the book series: Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals ((EBEMM))

Abstract

Social structures and grouping behaviors of odontocetes are under strong evolutionary pressures, as they influence mating opportunities, calf survival, predation, and foraging efficiency. The fission-fusion nature of most odontocete groups facilitates fine-scale spatial and temporal variability and establishes relationship complexity at the core of odontocete social structure. Different communities of the same species vary in social structure, as do different individuals within the same community. The same individuals can also display different social structures in different conditions. Advances in field techniques and data analyses have improved our ability to tease out nuances of social structure. Future work is essential for understanding evolutionary bases of odontocete social grouping, to focus more on interactions as well as associations, incorporate long-range acoustic communication and multivariate analyses of social and ecological variables, and move to agent-based analysis, where each individual (or collection of individuals) can act autonomously and independently. Social structural plasticity is key to the success of odontocetes and may also play an important role in speciation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alexander RD (1974) The evolution of social behaviour. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 5:325–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen MC, Read AJ, Gaudet J, Sayigh LS (2001) Fine-scale habitat selection of foraging bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus near Clearwater, Florida. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 222:253–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Ansmann IC, Parra GJ, Chilvers BL, Lanyon JM (2012) Dolphins restructure social system after reduction of commercial fisheries. Anim Behav 84:575–581

    Google Scholar 

  • Augusto JF, Rachinas-Lopes P, Dos Santos ME (2012) Social structure of the declining resident community of common bottlenose dolphins in the Sado Estuary, Portugal. J Mar Biol Assoc U K 92:1773–1782

    Google Scholar 

  • Aureli F, Schaffner CM, Boesch C, Bearder SK, Call J, Chapman CA, Connor R, Fiore AD, Dunbar RI, Henzi SP, Holekamp K (2008) Fission-fusion dynamics: new research frameworks. Curr Anthropol 49:627–654

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird RW, Webster DL, Swaim Z, Foley HJ, Anderson DB, Read AJ (2016) Spatial use by odontocetes satellite tagged off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in 2015. Final report. Prepared for US Fleet Forces Command. Submitted to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, under Contract No. N62470-10-3011, Task Order 57 and N62470–15-8006, Task Order 07, issued to HDR Inc., Virginia Beach, VA

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker I, O’Brien J, McHugh K, Ingram SN, Berrow S (2018) Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) social structure in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland, is distinguished by age- and area-related associations. Mar Mamm Sci 34:458–487

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball L, Shreves K, Pilot M, Moura AE (2017) Temporal and geographic patterns of kinship structure in common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) suggest site fidelity and female-biased long-distance dispersal. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 71:123

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ballance LT (2018) Contributions of photographs to cetacean science. Aquat Mamm 44:668–682

    Google Scholar 

  • Balmer B, Sinclair C, Speakman T, Quigley B, Barry K, Cush C, Hendon M, Mullin K, Ronje E, Rosel P, Schwacke L, Wells RS, Zolman E (2016) Extended movements of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) along the Northern Gulf of Mexico’s central coast. Gulf of Mexico Sci 33:8

    Google Scholar 

  • Bejder L, Fletcher D, Bräger S (1998) A method for testing association patterns of social animals. Anim Behav 56:719–725

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bejder L, Samuels A, Whitehead H, Gales N, Mann J, Connor R, Heithaus M, Watson-Capps J, Flaherty C, Krützen M (2006) Decline in relative abundance of bottlenose dolphins exposed to long-term disturbance. Conserv Biol 20:1791–1798

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bekoff M, Daniels TJ (1984) Life history patterns and the comparative social ecology of carnivores. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 15:191–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett NC, Faulkes CG (2000) African mole-rates: ecology and eusociality. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Benoit-Bird KJ (2004) Prey coloric value and predator energy needs: foraging predictions of wild spinner dolphins. Mar Biol 145:435–444

    Google Scholar 

  • Benoit-Bird KJ, Au WWL (2003) Prey dynamics affect foraging by a pelagic predator (Stenella longirostris) over a range of spatial and temporal scales. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 53:364–373

    Google Scholar 

  • Benoit-Bird KJ, Würsig B, McFadden CJ (2004) Dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) foraging in two different habitats: active acoustic detection of dolphins and their prey. Mar Mamm Sci 20:215–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertram BCR (1978) Living in groups: predators and prey. In: Krebs CJ, Davies NB (eds) Behavioural ecology: an evolutionary approach. Blackwell Scientific, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bigg MA, Ellis GM, Ford JKB, Balcomb KC (1987) Killer whales: a study of their identification, genealogy and natural history in British Columbia and Washington State. Phantom Press, Nanaimo

    Google Scholar 

  • Bräger S (1999) Association patterns in three populations of Hector’s dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori. Can J Zool 77:13–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Bro-Jørgensen J (2011) Intra- and intersexual conflicts and cooperation in the evolution of mating strategies: lessons learnt from Ungulates. Evol Biol 38:28–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckstaff KC (2004) Effects of watercraft noise on the acoustic behavior of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, in Sarasota Bay, Florida. Mar Mamm Sci 20:709–725

    Google Scholar 

  • Cantor M, Farine DR (2018) Simple foraging rules in competitive environments can generate socially structured populations. Ecol Evol 8:4978–4991

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Charlton-Robb K, Taylor A, McKechnie S (2015) Population genetic structure of the Burrunan dolphin (Tursiops australis) in coastal waters of south-eastern Australia: conservation implications. Conserv Genet 16:195–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Christal J, Whitehead H (2001) Social affiliations within sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) groups. Ethology 107:323–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Christiansen F, McHugh KA, Bejder L, Siegal EM, Lusseau D, McCabe EB, Lovewell G, Wells RS (2016) Food provisioning increases the risk of injury in a long-lived marine top predator. R Soc Open Sci 3. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160560

  • Claridge D (2013) Population ecology of Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris). PhD dissertation, University of St. Andrews. St. Andrews, Scotland, 312 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor RC, Krützen M (2015) Male dolphin alliances in Shark Bay: changing perspectives in a 30-year study. Anim Behav 103:223–235

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor RC, Wells RS, Mann J, Read AJ (2000) The bottlenose dolphin: social relationships in a fission-fusion society. In: Mann J, Connor RC, Tyack P, Whitehead H (eds) Cetacean societies: field studies of dolphins and whales. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Connor RC, Cioffi WR, Randic S, Allen SJ, Watson-Capps J, Krützen M (2017) Male alliance behaviour and mating access varies with habitat in a dolphin social network. Sci Rep 7:46354

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Daura-Jorge FG, Cantor M, Ingram SN, Lusseau D, Simoes-Lopes PC (2012) The structure of a bottlenose dolphin society is coupled to a unique foraging cooperation with artisanal fishermen. Biol Lett 8:702–705

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • De Stephanis R, Verbourgh P, Pérez S, Minville-Sebastia L, Guinet C (2008) Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibralter. Acta Ethol 11:81–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Defran RH, Weller DW (1999) Occurrence, distribution, site fidelity, and school size of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off San Diego, California. Mar Mamm Sci 15:366–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliser CR, Herzing DL (2011) Replacement dolphins? Social restructuring of a resident pod of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, after two major hurricanes. Mar Mamm Sci 27:39–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliser CR, Herzing DL (2014) Social structure of Atlantic spotted dolphins, Stenella frontalis, following environmental disturbance and demographic changes. Mar Mamm Sci 30:329–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Falcone EA, Schorr GS, Douglas AB, Calambokidis J, Henderson E, McKenna MF, Hildebrand J, Moretti D (2009) Sighting characteristics and photo-identification of Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) near San Clemente Island, California: a key area for beaked whales and the military? Mar Biol 156:2631–2640

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fiori L, Doshi A, Martinez E, Orams MB, Bollard-Breen B (2017) The use of unmanned aerial systems in marine mammal research. Remote Sens 9:543

    Google Scholar 

  • Foroughirad V, Mann J (2013) Long-term impacts of fish provisioning on the behavior and survival of wild bottlenose dolphins. Biol Conserv 160:242–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankel AS, Zeddies D, Simard P, Mann D (2014) Whistle source levels of free-ranging bottlenose dolphins and Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico. J Acoust Soc Am 135:1624–1631

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frère CH, Krützen M, Mann J, Watson-Capps JJ, Tsai YJ, Patterson EM, Connor R, Bejder L, Sherwin WB (2010a) Home range overlap, matrilineal and biparental kinship drive female associations in bottlenose dolphins. Anim Behav 80:481–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Frère CH, Krützen M, Mann J, Connor RC, Bejder L, Sherwin WB (2010b) Social and genetic interactions drive fitness variation in a free-living dolphin population. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:19949–19954

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Galezo AA, Krzyszczyk E, Mann J (2018) Sexual segregation in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins is driven by female avoidance of males. Behav Ecol 29:377–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Gawain B (1981) The dolphin’s gift. Whatever Publications, Mill Valley, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Gazda S, Iyer S, Killingback T, Connor R, Brault S (2015) The importance of delineating networks by activity type in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Cedar Key, Florida. R Soc Open Sci 2. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.140263

  • Gero S, Bejder L, Whitehead H, Connor RC (2005) Behaviourally specific preferred associations in bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops spp. Can J Zool 83:1566–1573

    Google Scholar 

  • Gero S, Engelhaupt D, Whitehead H (2008) Heterogeneous social associations within a sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, unit reflect pairwise relatedness. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63:143–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Gowans S, Whitehead H, Hooker SK (2001) Social organization in northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus): not driven by deep water foraging? Anim Behav 62:369–377

    Google Scholar 

  • Gowans S, Würsig B, Karczmarski L (2008) The social structure and strategies of delphinids: predictions based on an ecological framework. Adv Mar Biol 53:195–294

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatchwell BJ (2009) The evolution of cooperative breeding in birds: kinship, dispersal and life history. Philos Trans R Soc B 364:3217–3227

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzing DL, Johnson CM (1997) Interspecific interactions between Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Bahamas, 1985-1995. Aquat Mamm 23:85–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinde RA (1976) Interactions, relationships and social structure. Man 11:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooker SK, Whitehead H, Gowans S, Baird RW (2002) Fluctuations in distribution and patterns of individual range use of northern bottlenose whales. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 225:287–297

    Google Scholar 

  • Janik VM, Sayigh LS (2013) Communication in bottlenose dolphins: 50 years of signature whistle research. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 199:479–489

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen FH, Beedholm K, Wahlberg M, Bejder L, Madsen PT (2012) Estimated communication range and energetic cost of bottlenose dolphin whistles in a tropical habitat. J Acoust Soc Am 131:582–592

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston DR, Rayment W, Slooten E, Dawson SM (2017) A time-based method for defining associations using photo-identification. Behaviour 154:1029–1050

    Google Scholar 

  • Karczmarski L, Würsig B, Gailey G, Larson KW, Vanderlip C (2005) Spinner dolphins in a remote Hawaiian atoll: social grouping and population structure. Behav Ecol 16:675–685

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs CJ, Perrtree RM, Cox TM (2017) Social differentiation in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that engage in human-related foraging behaviors. PLoS One 12:e0170151

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Laplanche C, Marques TA, Thomas L (2015) Tracking marine mammals in 3D using electronic tag data. Methods Ecol Evol 6:987–996

    Google Scholar 

  • Louis M, Fontaine MC, Spitz J, Schlund E, Dabin W, Deaville R, Caurant F, Cherel Y, Guinet C, Simon-Bouhet B (2014) Ecological opportunities and specializations shaped genetic divergence in a highly mobile marine top predator. Proc R Soc B Biol Sci 281. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1558

  • Louis M, Simon-Bouhet B, Viricel A, Lucas T, Gally F, Cherel Y, Guinet C (2018) Evaluating the influence of ecology, sex and kinship on the social structure of resident coastal bottlenose dolphins. Mar Biol 165:80

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukas D, Clutton-Brock T (2018) Social complexity and kinship in animal societies. Ecol Lett 21:1129–1134

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lusseau D, Schneider K, Boisseau OJ, Haase P, Slooten E, Dawson D (2003) The bottlenose dolphin community of doubtful sound features a large proportion of long-lasting associations: can geographic isolation explain this unique trait? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 54:396–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Madsen PT, Wahlberg M, Møhl B (2002) Male sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) acoustics in a high-latitude habitat: implications for echolocation and communication. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 53:31–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann J (1999) Behavioural sampling methods for cetaceans: a review and critique. Mar Mamm Sci 15:102–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann J, Sargeant B (2003) Like mother, like calf: the ontogeny of foraging traditions in wild Indian ocean bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.). In: Fragazy DM, Perry S (eds) The biology of traditions: models and evidence. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann J, Smuts BB (1998) Natal attraction: allomaternal care and mother-infant separations in wild bottlenose dolphins. Anim Behav 55:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann J, Smuts B (1999) Behavioral development in wild bottlenose dolphin newborns (Tursiops sp.). Behaviour 136:529–566

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann J, Stanton MA, Patterson EM, Bienenstock EJ, Singh LO (2012) Social networks reveal cultural behaviour in tool-using using dolphins. Nat Commun 3:980

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Markowitz TM, Harlin AD, Würsig B (2003) Digital photography improves efficiency of individual dolphin identification: a reply to Mizroch. Mar Mamm Sci 19:608–612

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin AR, Da Silva VMF (2004) Number, seasonal movements, and residency characteristics of river dolphins in an Amazonian floodplain lake system. Can J Zool 82:1307–1315

    Google Scholar 

  • McHugh KA, Allen JB, Barleycorn AA, Wells RS (2011) Severe Karenia brevis red tides influence juvenile bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) behavior in Sarasota Bay, Florida. Mar Mamm Sci 27:622–643

    Google Scholar 

  • McSweeney DJ, Baird RW, Mahaffy SD (2007) Site fidelity, associations, and movements of Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris) and Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris) beaked whales off the island of Hawai’i. Mar Mamm Sci 23:666–687

    Google Scholar 

  • Möller LM (2012) Sociogenetic structure, kin associations and bonding in delphinids. Mol Ecol 21:745–764

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norris KS, Dohl TP (1980) The structure and functions of cetacean schools. In: Herman LM (ed) Cetacean behavior: mechanisms and functions. Wiley-Interscience, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris KS, Schilt CR (1988) Cooperative societies in three dimensional space: on the origins of aggregations, flocks, and schools with special reference to dolphins and fish. Ethol Sociobiol 9:149–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowacek DP, Christiansen F, Bejder L, Goldbogen JA, Friedlaender AS (2016) Studying cetacean behaviour: new technological approaches and conservation applications. Anim Behav 120:235–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen ECG, Wells RS, Hofmann S (2002) Ranging and association patterns of paired and unpaired adult male Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, in Sarasota, Florida, provide no evidence for alternative male strategies. Can J Zool 80:2072–2089

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson HC, Markowitz TM, Weir JS, Würsig B (2017) Dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) social structure characterized by social fluidity and preferred companions. Mar Mamm Sci 33:251–276

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirotta E, New L, Harwood J, Lusseau D (2014) Activities, motivations and disturbance: an agent-based model of bottlenose dolphin behavioral dynamics and interactions with tourism in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. Ecol Model 282:44–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Pryor K, Kang Shallenberger I (1991) Social structure in spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) in the tuna purse seine fishery in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. In: Pryor K, Norris KS (eds) Dolphin societies: discoveries and puzzles. University of California Press, Berkley

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramos EA, Baloney BM, Magnasco MO, Reiss D (2018) Bottlenose dolphins and Antillean manatees respond to small multi-rotor unmanned aerial systems. Front Mar Sci 5:316

    Google Scholar 

  • Riesch R, Barrett-Lennard LG, Ellis GM, Ford JKB, Deecke VB (2012) Cultural traditions and the evolution of reproductive isolation: ecological speciation in killer whales? Biol J Linn Soc 106:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossbach KA, Herzing DL (1997) Underwater observations of benthic feeding bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) near Grand Bahamas Island, Bahamas. Mar Mamm Sci 13:498–503

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulz TM, Whitehead H, Gero S, Rendell L (2008) Overlapping and matching of codas in vocal interactions between sperm whales: insights into communication function. Anim Behav 76:1977–1988

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott MD (1991) The size and structure of pelagic dolphin herds. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellas AB, Wells RS, Rosel PE (2005) Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analyses reveal fine scale geographic structure in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Gulf of Mexico. Conserv Genet 6:715–728

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sørensen PM, Wisniewska DM, Jensen FH, Johnson M, Teilmann J, Madsen PT (2018) Click communication in wild harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Sci Rep 8:9702

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sterck EHM, Watts DP, Van Schaik CP (1997) The evolution of female social relationships in nonhuman primates. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 41:291–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Tavares SB, Samarra FIP, Miller PJO (2017) A multilevel society of herring-eating killer whales indicates adaptation to prey characteristics. Behav Ecol 28:500–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Titcomb EM, O’Corry-Crowe G, Hartel EF, Mazzoil MS (2015) Social communities and spatiotemporal dynamics of association patterns in estuarine bottlenose dolphins. Mar Mamm Sci 31:1314–1337

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallen MM, Krzyszczyk E, Mann J (2017) Mating in a bisexually philopatric society: bottlenose dolphin females associate with adult males but not adult sons during estrous. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 71:153

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang K, Wang D, Akamatsu T, Fujita K, Shiraki R (2006) Estimated detection distance of a baiji’s (Chinese river dolphin, Lipotes vexillifer) whistles using a passive acoustic survey method. J Acoust Soc Am 120:1361–1365

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weir JS, Fiori L, Orbach DN, Piwetz S, Protheroe C, Würsig B (2018) Dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) mother-calf pairs: an aerial perspective. Aquat Mamm 44:603–607

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells RS (2003) Dolphin social complexity: lessons from long term study and life history. In: De Waal FBM, Tyack PL (eds) Animal social complexity: intelligence, culture and individualized societies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells RS (2014) Social structure and life history of bottlenose dolphins near Sarasota Bay, Florida: insights from four decades and five generations. In: Yamagiwa J, Karczmarski L (eds) Primates and cetaceans: field research and conservation of complex mammalian societies. Springer, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead H (2008) Analysing animal societies: quantitative methods for vertebrate social analysis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead H (2009) SOCPROG programs: analysing animal social structures. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63:765–778

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead H, Dufault S (1999) Techniques for analyzing vertebrate social structure using identified individuals: review and recommendations. Adv Study Behav 28:33–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead H, Ford JKB (2018) Consequences of culturally-driven ecological specialization: Killer whales and beyond. J Theor Biol 456:279–294

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead H, Mann J (2000) Female reproductive strategies of cetaceans. In: Mann J, Connor R, Tyack PL, Whitehead H (eds) Cetacean societies: field studies of dolphins and whales. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead H, Rendell R, Osbone RW, Würsig B (2004) Culture and conservation of non-humans with reference to whales and dolphins: review and new directions. Biol Conserv 120:431–441

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson EO (1971) The insect societies. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson DRB (1995) The ecology of bottlenose dolphins in the Moray Firth, Scotland: a population at the northern extreme of the species’ range. Dissertation, Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, Scotland

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiszniewski J, Lusseau D, Moller LM (2010) Female bisexual kinship ties maintain social cohesion in a dolphin network. Anim Behav 80:895–904

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittemyer G, Douglas-Hamilton I, Getz WM (2005) The socioecology of elephants: analysis of the processes creating multitiered social structures. Anim Behav 69:1357–1371

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrangham RW (1980) An ecological model of female-bonded primate groups. Behaviour 75:262–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Würsig B, Pearson HC (2014) Dusky dolphins: flexibility in foraging and social strategies. In: Yamagiwa J, Karczmarski L (eds) Primates and Cetaceans: field research and conservation of complex mammalian societies. Springer Press, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Würsig B, Würsig M (1977) The photographic determination of group size, composition, and stability of coastal porpoises (Tursiops truncatus). Science 198:755–756

    Google Scholar 

  • Würsig B, Würsig M (1980) Behavior and ecology of the dusky dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obscurus, in the South Atlantic. Fish Bull 77:871–890

    Google Scholar 

  • Würsig B, Cipriano F, Würsig M (1991) Dolphin movement patterns: information from radio and theodolite tracking studies. In: Pryor K, Norris KS (eds) Dolphin societies: discoveries and puzzles. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Würsig B, Wells RS, Würsig M, Norris KS (1994) A spinner dolphin’s day. In: Norris KS, Würsig B, Wells RS, Würsig M (eds) The Hawaiian spinner dolphin. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    Shannon Gowans

Authors
  1. Shannon Gowans
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shannon Gowans .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, TX, USA

    Bernd Würsig

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gowans, S. (2019). Grouping Behaviors of Dolphins and Other Toothed Whales. In: Würsig, B. (eds) Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Odontocetes. Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Marine Mammals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16663-2_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation