Male synchrony: individual variation, epigenetic drivers and the overall effect on reproductive success in multilevel alliances of wild dolphins
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Biological Sciences
Abstract
Group-living animals express a wide range of social behaviours to attract mates, confront competitors and cooperate with allies to
increase Darwinian fitness. Group members differ from each other in characteristics such as age or sex, but also in their ability to
engage in social behaviours. Inter-individual variation in social behaviours has been proven challenging to investigate in the wild and
is potentially driven by gene expression and physiological mechanisms, shaped by the environment and an individual's experience.
Synchronous displays are social behaviours, hallmarks of many animal societies, with well known examples including male lancetailed
manakins, fiddler crabs and katydids which all express coordinated behaviours. Individuals that engage in such synchronous
displays may differ in their abilities to synchronise with group mates, but it is hard to track such differences. The above-mentioned
examples are driven by female choice and male competition. However, in humans the causes of synchrony are strongly linked to
cooperation. Male dolphins also synchronize motor and acoustic displays and cooperate in the pursuit of females, with some
individuals potentially being capable of more precise coordination. Such synchrony in dolphins may have evolved to promote within
alliance social bonding and cooperation in a context where males need to work together to herd a female and defend her from rivals,
yet they are also competing for an indivisible resource (fertilization). This project will determine whether more precise motor and
acoustic synchrony in wild male bottlenose dolphins leads to increased reproductive success and investigate patterns of DNA
methylation in males that vary in their level of coordinated behaviour. Combining behavioural and bioinformatic analysis will shed
light on the drivers and effects of behavioural variation on fitness, and will determine if synchrony is an adaptive feature of
coalitionary behaviour that is not limited to humans.
increase Darwinian fitness. Group members differ from each other in characteristics such as age or sex, but also in their ability to
engage in social behaviours. Inter-individual variation in social behaviours has been proven challenging to investigate in the wild and
is potentially driven by gene expression and physiological mechanisms, shaped by the environment and an individual's experience.
Synchronous displays are social behaviours, hallmarks of many animal societies, with well known examples including male lancetailed
manakins, fiddler crabs and katydids which all express coordinated behaviours. Individuals that engage in such synchronous
displays may differ in their abilities to synchronise with group mates, but it is hard to track such differences. The above-mentioned
examples are driven by female choice and male competition. However, in humans the causes of synchrony are strongly linked to
cooperation. Male dolphins also synchronize motor and acoustic displays and cooperate in the pursuit of females, with some
individuals potentially being capable of more precise coordination. Such synchrony in dolphins may have evolved to promote within
alliance social bonding and cooperation in a context where males need to work together to herd a female and defend her from rivals,
yet they are also competing for an indivisible resource (fertilization). This project will determine whether more precise motor and
acoustic synchrony in wild male bottlenose dolphins leads to increased reproductive success and investigate patterns of DNA
methylation in males that vary in their level of coordinated behaviour. Combining behavioural and bioinformatic analysis will shed
light on the drivers and effects of behavioural variation on fitness, and will determine if synchrony is an adaptive feature of
coalitionary behaviour that is not limited to humans.
