Search: Look for:   Last 1 Month   Last 6 Months   All time

Dophins whistle to greet each other

London, Wed, 29 Feb 2012 ANI

London, Feb 29 (ANI): Bottlenose dolphins have whistles that they use to exclusively greet other members of their species, say marine biologists.

 

Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is one of only very few species which can invent or copy noises.

 

Using hydrophones, Vincent Janik and Nicola Quick of the University of St. Andrews, made recordings of dolphins swimming in St. Andrews Bay, off the northeastern coast of Scotland, in the summers of 2003 and 2004.

 

They heard that when groups of dolphins met up, they swapped whistles that outwardly sounded the same.

 

But forensic analysis revealed the whistles were in fact individual signatures, for they were never matched or copied by other dolphins, the Telegraph reported.

 

"Signature whistle exchanges are a significant part of a greeting sequence that allows dolphins to identify conspecifics [members of the same species] when encountering them in the wild," according to the study.

 

The whistles are clearly important, as they were heard in 90 percent of the joinups, the study added.

 

One particular signal came from what appeared to be the leader of a group, seemingly giving the OK to fellow dolphins in the team to join up with the other group.

 

Other whistles could be about agreeing roles to hunt for food or identifying individuals for socialising.

 

Bottlenose dolphins operate in a "fission-fusion" society, meaning they live in groups that are fluid in numbers.

 

The study appeared in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (ANI)

 


LATEST IMAGES
Manohar Lal being presented with a memento
Manoj Tiwari BJP Relief meets the family members of late Ankit Sharma
Haryana CM Manohar Lal congratulate former Deputy PM Lal Krishna Advani on his 92nd birthday
King of Bhutan, the Bhutan Queen and Crown Prince meeting the PM Modi
PM Narendra Modi welcomes the King of Bhutan
Post comments:
Your Name (*) :
Your Email :
Your Phone :
Your Comment (*):
  Reload Image
 
 

Comments:


 

OTHER TOP STORIES


Excellent Hair Fall Treatment
Careers | Privacy Policy | Feedback | About Us | Contact Us | | Latest News
Copyright © 2015 NEWS TRACK India All rights reserved.