Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song
Cultural transmission of behaviour is important in a wide variety of vertebrate taxa from birds to humans. Vocal traditions and vocal learning provide a strong foundation for studying culture and its transmission in both humans and cetaceans. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) perform com...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.190337 |
| _version_ | 1818341051179466752 |
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| author | Clare Owen Luke Rendell Rochelle Constantine Michael J. Noad Jenny Allen Olive Andrews Claire Garrigue M. Michael Poole David Donnelly Nan Hauser Ellen C. Garland |
| author_facet | Clare Owen Luke Rendell Rochelle Constantine Michael J. Noad Jenny Allen Olive Andrews Claire Garrigue M. Michael Poole David Donnelly Nan Hauser Ellen C. Garland |
| author_sort | Clare Owen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cultural transmission of behaviour is important in a wide variety of vertebrate taxa from birds to humans. Vocal traditions and vocal learning provide a strong foundation for studying culture and its transmission in both humans and cetaceans. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) perform complex, culturally transmitted song displays that can change both evolutionarily (through accumulations of small changes) or revolutionarily (where a population rapidly adopts a novel song). The degree of coordination and conformity underlying song revolutions makes their study of particular interest. Acoustic contact on migratory routes may provide a mechanism for cultural revolutions of song, yet these areas of contact remain uncertain. Here, we compared songs recorded from the Kermadec Islands, a recently discovered migratory stopover, to multiple South Pacific wintering grounds. Similarities in song themes from the Kermadec Islands and multiple wintering locations (from New Caledonia across to the Cook Islands) suggest a location allowing cultural transmission of song eastward across the South Pacific, active song learning (hybrid songs) and the potential for cultural convergence after acoustic isolation at the wintering grounds. As with the correlations in humans between genes, communication and migration, the migration patterns of humpback whales are written into their songs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:52:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ccf244ceb1a14789b5912bcc3c83a11c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T15:52:38Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-ccf244ceb1a14789b5912bcc3c83a11c2022-12-21T23:39:24ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032019-09-016910.1098/rsos.190337190337Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale songClare OwenLuke RendellRochelle ConstantineMichael J. NoadJenny AllenOlive AndrewsClaire GarrigueM. Michael PooleDavid DonnellyNan HauserEllen C. GarlandCultural transmission of behaviour is important in a wide variety of vertebrate taxa from birds to humans. Vocal traditions and vocal learning provide a strong foundation for studying culture and its transmission in both humans and cetaceans. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) perform complex, culturally transmitted song displays that can change both evolutionarily (through accumulations of small changes) or revolutionarily (where a population rapidly adopts a novel song). The degree of coordination and conformity underlying song revolutions makes their study of particular interest. Acoustic contact on migratory routes may provide a mechanism for cultural revolutions of song, yet these areas of contact remain uncertain. Here, we compared songs recorded from the Kermadec Islands, a recently discovered migratory stopover, to multiple South Pacific wintering grounds. Similarities in song themes from the Kermadec Islands and multiple wintering locations (from New Caledonia across to the Cook Islands) suggest a location allowing cultural transmission of song eastward across the South Pacific, active song learning (hybrid songs) and the potential for cultural convergence after acoustic isolation at the wintering grounds. As with the correlations in humans between genes, communication and migration, the migration patterns of humpback whales are written into their songs.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.190337animal culturecultural evolutionsongcetaceanhumpback whalesouth pacific |
| spellingShingle | Clare Owen Luke Rendell Rochelle Constantine Michael J. Noad Jenny Allen Olive Andrews Claire Garrigue M. Michael Poole David Donnelly Nan Hauser Ellen C. Garland Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song Royal Society Open Science animal culture cultural evolution song cetacean humpback whale south pacific |
| title | Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song |
| title_full | Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song |
| title_fullStr | Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song |
| title_full_unstemmed | Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song |
| title_short | Migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song |
| title_sort | migratory convergence facilitates cultural transmission of humpback whale song |
| topic | animal culture cultural evolution song cetacean humpback whale south pacific |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.190337 |
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