Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances

Abstract Investigations into cooperative partner choice should consider both potential and realised partners, allowing for the comparison of traits across all those available. Male bottlenose dolphins form persisting multi-level alliances. Second-order alliances of 4–14 males are the core social uni...

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Autores principales:	Livia Gerber, Samuel Wittwer, Simon J. Allen, Kathryn G. Holmes, Stephanie L. King, William B. Sherwin, Sonja Wild, Erik P. Willems, Richard C. Connor, Michael Krützen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/1596cffa20e34fa1904d82ac9fbe8fe0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:1596cffa20e34fa1904d82ac9fbe8fe02021-12-02T17:04:36ZCooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances10.1038/s41598-021-85583-x2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/1596cffa20e34fa1904d82ac9fbe8fe02021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-85583-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Investigations into cooperative partner choice should consider both potential and realised partners, allowing for the comparison of traits across all those available. Male bottlenose dolphins form persisting multi-level alliances. Second-order alliances of 4–14 males are the core social unit, within which 2–3 males form first-order alliances to sequester females during consortships. We compared social bond strength, relatedness and age similarity of potential and realised partners of individual males in two age periods: (i) adolescence, when second-order alliances are formed from all available associates, and (ii) adulthood, when first-order allies are selected from within second-order alliances. Social bond strength during adolescence predicted second-order alliance membership in adulthood. Moreover, males preferred same-aged or older males as second-order allies. Within second-order alliances, non-mating season social bond strength predicted first-order partner preferences during mating season consortships. Relatedness did not influence partner choice on either alliance level. There is thus a striking resemblance between male dolphins, chimpanzees and humans, where closely bonded non-relatives engage in higher-level, polyadic cooperative acts. To that end, our study extends the scope of taxa in which social bonds rather than kinship explain cooperation, providing the first evidence that such traits might have evolved independently in marine and terrestrial realms.Livia GerberSamuel WittwerSimon J. AllenKathryn G. HolmesStephanie L. KingWilliam B. SherwinSonja WildErik P. WillemsRichard C. ConnorMichael KrützenNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Livia Gerber Samuel Wittwer Simon J. Allen Kathryn G. Holmes Stephanie L. King William B. Sherwin Sonja Wild Erik P. Willems Richard C. Connor Michael Krützen Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances
description	Abstract Investigations into cooperative partner choice should consider both potential and realised partners, allowing for the comparison of traits across all those available. Male bottlenose dolphins form persisting multi-level alliances. Second-order alliances of 4–14 males are the core social unit, within which 2–3 males form first-order alliances to sequester females during consortships. We compared social bond strength, relatedness and age similarity of potential and realised partners of individual males in two age periods: (i) adolescence, when second-order alliances are formed from all available associates, and (ii) adulthood, when first-order allies are selected from within second-order alliances. Social bond strength during adolescence predicted second-order alliance membership in adulthood. Moreover, males preferred same-aged or older males as second-order allies. Within second-order alliances, non-mating season social bond strength predicted first-order partner preferences during mating season consortships. Relatedness did not influence partner choice on either alliance level. There is thus a striking resemblance between male dolphins, chimpanzees and humans, where closely bonded non-relatives engage in higher-level, polyadic cooperative acts. To that end, our study extends the scope of taxa in which social bonds rather than kinship explain cooperation, providing the first evidence that such traits might have evolved independently in marine and terrestrial realms.
format	article
author	Livia Gerber Samuel Wittwer Simon J. Allen Kathryn G. Holmes Stephanie L. King William B. Sherwin Sonja Wild Erik P. Willems Richard C. Connor Michael Krützen
author_facet	Livia Gerber Samuel Wittwer Simon J. Allen Kathryn G. Holmes Stephanie L. King William B. Sherwin Sonja Wild Erik P. Willems Richard C. Connor Michael Krützen
author_sort	Livia Gerber
title	Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances
title_short	Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances
title_full	Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances
title_fullStr	Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances
title_full_unstemmed	Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances
title_sort	cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/1596cffa20e34fa1904d82ac9fbe8fe0
work_keys_str_mv	AT liviagerber cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT samuelwittwer cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT simonjallen cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT kathryngholmes cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT stephanielking cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT williambsherwin cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT sonjawild cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT erikpwillems cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT richardcconnor cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances AT michaelkrutzen cooperativepartnerchoiceinmultilevelmaledolphinalliances
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Cooperative partner choice in multi-level male dolphin alliances

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