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Whales and dolphins have tight-knit social groups and 'human-like' cultures and societies

The study links the complexity of cetacean culture and behaviour to the size of their brains.

WHALES AND DOLPHINS live in tightly knit social groups and have rich “human-like” cultures and societies, according to new research.

A new study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution yesterday has found that whales and dolphins (cetaceans) have complex relationships, talk to each other and even have regional dialects.

The study links the complexity of cetacean culture and behaviour to the size of their brains.

The study was the first of its kind to create a large dataset of cetacean brain size and social behaviours. Researchers complied information on 90 different species of dolphins, whales and porpoises and found overwhelming evidence that cetaceans have sophisticated social and cooperative behaviour traits, similar to many found in human culture.

Researchers said that this is linked to brain size and expansion.

According to the research, the list of behavioural similarities between humans and cetaceans includes:

  • Complex alliance relationships – working together for mutual benefit
  • Social transfer of hunting techniques – teaching how to hunt and using tools
  • Cooperative hunting
  • Complex vocalisations – including regional group dialects and “talking” to each other
  • Vocal mimicry and “signature whistles” unique to individuals – using name recognition
  • Interspecific cooperation with humans and other species – working with different specie
  • Alloparenting – looking after youngsters that aren’t their own
  • Social play

Commenting on the research, Dr Michael Muthukrishna, Assistant Professor of Economic Psychology at LSE said that the research was not just about understanding cetacean behaviour more but also human behaviour.

“This research isn’t just about looking at the intelligence of whales and dolphins, it also has important anthropological ramifications as well,” he said.

In order to move toward a more general theory of human behaviour, we need to understand what makes humans so different from other animals. And to do this, we need a control group. Compared to primates, cetaceans are a more ‘alien’ control group.

The research was a collaboration between scientists at The University of Manchester, The University of British Columbia, Canada, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Stanford University, United States.

Read: Dolphins airlifted to safety by helicopter in advance of Hurricane Irma

Read: 56 dolphins and whales have washed up on Irish beaches so far this year

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    Mute James Fox
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 8:10 PM

    Living and working in Canada earning $90,000 plus bonuses. How. Is this relevant to Ireland.

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    Mute Longlin
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 8:31 PM

    @James Fox: At the least, we could have the Euro equivalent in brackets beside it. $90K is around €62K to prevent others having to look it up.

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 10:09 AM

    @Longlin: With all of these it’s worth looking at the monthly take home, which when added and converted is about €41k

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    Mute Ríain HenC
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 8:20 PM

    Median wage of these weekly journals is approx 70k a year salary ! Can we have a few more part time corner shop workers on €9 an hour and maybe a Carer / social welfare recipient paying extortionate rent for parity !

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    Mute Ryan O'Rourke
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 8:26 PM

    @Ríain HenC: they have to be the ones that get in touch. You’re not paid to do this feature I presume

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    Mute Soeren Kuehling
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    Jan 4th 2022, 4:48 PM

    @Ryan O’Rourke: exactly. If nobody with a low salary gets in touch with them first we won’t be able to read about it here. Against popular opinion these stories are not made up but real people.

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    Mute John Murphy
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 8:22 PM

    This is the best one so far! Canada! Dollars, 31 on $91k, Dungeons and Dragons…brillant, I have my fingers crossed for the Afghan Shepherd next week.

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    Mute Pat D'Arcy
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 8:36 PM

    @John Murphy: in fairness D&D is a bit of craic

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    Mute flexfinn
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 8:29 PM

    Once I saw the headline I knew the negativity would just flow through the comments ,with the 1st 3 comments being as expected can’t wait to see the rest

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    Mute Dan Moran
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 9:08 PM

    @flexfinn: Incredible foresight.

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    Mute B Collins
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 9:19 PM

    $2,200 for a 2+2 in Toronto is VERY good value.

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    Mute Jen Mc
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 10:58 PM

    @B Collins: yup, a relative of mine is paying $1900 for a 2 bed basement in Ajax. I paid $1350 a month for a 2 bed basement in North Toronto in 2017. Things are worse there than here!

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    Mute family guy
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 1:48 AM

    @Jen Mc: tell that to all the moaners on here, lol. Only they can change their own situation rather than expecting the government to pull them up

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    Mute Genera L Consensus
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 9:58 PM

    I want to be a Performance marketing manager

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    Mute pkunzip doom2.zip
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 10:07 AM

    @Genera L Consensus: your performance just isn’t good enough I’m afraid

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 10:10 AM

    @Genera L Consensus: nobody ‘wants’ to be a performance marketer…

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    Mute Daniel Murray
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 11:55 PM

    Not saving nowhere near enough for the money they’re making. If the plan is to every buy a place anywhere they need to up their game. I was saving more than that while renting on less than half their salary.

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    Mute Padraic Burke
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 12:37 AM

    @Daniel Murray: where in Killinaskully?

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    Mute Mickety Dee
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 7:40 AM

    @Daniel Murray: The numbers don’t add up. Their outgoings appear small yet they only have 6-900 dollars a month. There’s at least another 1.5k being spent somewhere

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    Mute John Killeen
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    Jan 2nd 2022, 10:46 PM

    It’s a piss take.

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    Mute Watchful Axe
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 12:03 PM

    @John Killeen: Not necessarily, you could have individuals that are high on life taking part. It might only really represent one percent of people but the other ninety nine couldn’t be bothered taking part in this.

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    Mute Pat Redmond
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 10:51 AM

    Spend some money on a visit to a gastroenterologist. A specialist will identify exactly the triggers.

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    Mute Declan Holden
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 9:23 AM

    Where’s the relevance for us folks living in ireland ?

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    Mute Kevk77
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 9:32 AM

    @Declan Holden: so when they return home for xmas next year you know how much you can tap them up for. Useful information comes in all guises.

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Jan 3rd 2022, 10:13 AM

    Performance Marketing… ugh! making sure we’re all firmly engaged with cr@p we don’t need.

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