Prolonged maternal investment in northern bottlenose whales alters our understanding of beaked whale reproductive life history.

ABSTRACT: Nursing and weaning periods are poorly understood in cetaceans due to the difficulty of assessing underwater behaviour in the wild. However, the onset and completion of weaning are critical turning points for individual development and survival, with implications for a species' life history including reproductive potential. δ15N and δ13C deposited in odontocete teeth annuli provide a lifetime record of diet, offering an opportunity to investigate variation and trends in fundamental biology. While available reproductive parameters for beaked whales have largely been inferred from single records of stranded or hunted animals and extrapolated across species, here we examine the weaning strategy and nursing duration in northern bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus) by measuring stable isot

SUBMITTER: Feyrer LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7310684 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature