DOLPHINS have the largest alliance network outside of humans, researchers have found. In particular, it is male bottlenose which possesses this distinctly large, multi-level alliance network, as discovered through the studying of more than 100 dolphins in Shark Bay. These cooperative group ties boost male access to a contested resource...
DOLPHINS have the largest alliance network outside of humans, researchers have found.
In particular, it is male bottlenose which possesses this distinctly large, multi-level alliance network, as discovered through the studying of more than 100 dolphins in Shark Bay.
These cooperative group ties boost male access to a contested resource – in particular, female dolphins.
Publishing their discoveries in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers found the bottlenoses form first-order alliances of two to three males to pursue consortships with individual females jointly.
Second-order coalitions of between four and 14 unrelated males compete with other alliances for female access, whereas third-order alliances form amongst collaborating second-order alliances.
