Homophily around specialized foraging underlies dolphin social preferences.

ABSTRACT: Individuals often associate socially with those who behave the same way. This principle, homophily, could structure populations into distinct social groups. We tested this hypothesis in a bottlenose dolphin population that appeared to be clustered around a specialized foraging tactic involving cooperation with net-casting fishermen, but in which other potential drivers of such social structure have never been assessed. We measured and controlled for the contribution of sex, age, genetic relatedness, home range and foraging tactics on social associations to test for homophily effects. Dolphins tended to group with others having similar home ranges and frequency of using the specialized foraging tactic, but not other traits. Such social preferences were particularly clear when dolphins were

SUBMITTER: Machado AMS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6501372 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature