When it comes to wooing the ‘ladies’, it turns out male bottlenose dolphins seem to employ similar tactics to some human groups.
When it comes to wooing the ‘ladies’, it turns out male bottlenose dolphins seem to employ similar tactics to some human groups.
Flinders field work on the dolphins of southern Australia found they form strong bonds with other male relatives in their social circle to improve their success rate when breeding with a small number of available females.
New research has analysed the behaviour of 12 dolphin social groups in South Australia’s Coffin Bay region and shows males which team up in groups of two to five to form beneficial alliances may have more sexual success.
The collaboration improves the bottlenose dolphins’ chances of finding and breeding with females in a competitive environment, ensures they stay fit, and leads to stronger family bonds over time.
Read more at Flinders University
Image: Bottlenose Dolphins, Coffin Bay in South Australia (Credit: Fernando Diaz Aguirre)
