TY - JOUR
T1 - Kinship and reproductive condition correlate with affiliation patterns in female southern Australian bottlenose dolphins
AU - Diaz-Aguirre, Fernando
AU - Parra, Guido J.
AU - Passadore, Cecilia
AU - Möller, Luciana
PY - 2020/2/5
Y1 - 2020/2/5
N2 - Social relationships in female mammals are usually determined by an interplay among genetic, endogenous, social and ecological factors that ultimately affect their lifetime reproductive success. However, few studies have attempted to control for, and integrate these factors, hampering our understanding of drivers underlying female sociality. Here, we used generalized affiliation indices, combined with social networks, reproductive condition, and genetic data to investigate drivers of associations in female southern Australian bottlenose dolphins. Our analysis is based on photo-identification and genetic data collected through systematic boat surveys over a two-year study period. Female dolphins formed preferred associations and social clusters which ranged from overlapping to discrete home ranges. Furthermore, matrilineal kinship and biparental relatedness, as well as reproductive condition, correlated with the strength of female affiliations. In addition, relatedness for both genetic markers was also higher within than between social clusters. The predictability of resources in their embayment environment, and the availability of same-sex relatives in the population, may have favoured the formation of social bonds between genetically related females and those in similar reproductive condition. This study highlights the importance of genetic, endogenous, social and ecological factors in determining female sociality in coastal dolphins.
AB - Social relationships in female mammals are usually determined by an interplay among genetic, endogenous, social and ecological factors that ultimately affect their lifetime reproductive success. However, few studies have attempted to control for, and integrate these factors, hampering our understanding of drivers underlying female sociality. Here, we used generalized affiliation indices, combined with social networks, reproductive condition, and genetic data to investigate drivers of associations in female southern Australian bottlenose dolphins. Our analysis is based on photo-identification and genetic data collected through systematic boat surveys over a two-year study period. Female dolphins formed preferred associations and social clusters which ranged from overlapping to discrete home ranges. Furthermore, matrilineal kinship and biparental relatedness, as well as reproductive condition, correlated with the strength of female affiliations. In addition, relatedness for both genetic markers was also higher within than between social clusters. The predictability of resources in their embayment environment, and the availability of same-sex relatives in the population, may have favoured the formation of social bonds between genetically related females and those in similar reproductive condition. This study highlights the importance of genetic, endogenous, social and ecological factors in determining female sociality in coastal dolphins.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079064409&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-020-58800-2
DO - 10.1038/s41598-020-58800-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 32024905
AN - SCOPUS:85079064409
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 10
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 1891
ER -