Bottlenose dolphins (Photo : Reuters)
A fascinating new study reveals dolphins are more complex social creatures than previously believed and exhibit traits that might be called very human.
A six-year-long study by scientists at Florida Atlantic University shed more light on how dolphin societies organize themselves. Among the more intriguing bits of data is that dolphins form "social networks" and collect extensive and complex collections of friends much like humans do.
Past studies have shown dolphins exhibit many behaviors and practices associated with culture and advanced intelligence. Dolphins have even been known to invent new behaviors in response to new situations, a behavior some researchers consider the very hallmark of intelligence.
In this new study, researchers at Florida Atlantic's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute used special photo-identification technology to observe and track interactions between bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon on the Atlantic coast of Florida.
Scientists plotted the social preferences of more than 200 dolphins and learned more about the unique ways dolphins organize themselves and their relationships with others.
The study revealed dolphins form into loose groups and these groups (and the individuals in them) exhibit a fondness for some peers (and their groups) and an aversion to others, said UPI.
"One of the more unique aspects of our study was the discovery that the physical dimensions of the habitat, the long, narrow lagoon system itself, influenced the spatial and temporal dynamics of dolphin association patterns," said Elizabeth Murdoch Titcomb, a researcher biologist at the institute and lead author of the new study.
"For example, communities that occupy the narrowest stretches of the Indian River Lagoon have the most compact social networks, similar to humans who live in small towns and have fewer people with whom to interact".
Mapping the dolphins' social architecture will also help scientists better understand the flow of information among local populations. The study was recently published in the journal, Marine Mammal Research.
