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Global cultural evolutionary model of humpback whale song.

ABSTRACT: Humpback whale song is an extraordinary example of vocal cultural behaviour. In northern populations, the complex songs show long-lasting traditions that slowly evolve, while in the South Pacific, periodic revolutions occur when songs are adopted from neighbouring populations and rapidly spread. In this species, vocal learning cannot be studied in the laboratory, learning is instead inferred from the songs' complexity and patterns of transmission. Here, we used individual-based cultural evolutionary simulations of the entire Southern and Northern Hemisphere humpback whale populations to formalize this process of inference. We modelled processes of song mutation and patterns of contact among populations and compared our model with patterns of song theme sharing measured in South Pacific populations. Low levels of mutation in combination with rare population interactions were sufficient to closely fit the pattern of diversity in the South Pacific, including the distinctive pattern of west-to-east revolutions. Interestingly, the same learning parameters that gave rise to revolutions in the Southern Hemisphere simulations gave rise to evolutionary patterns of cultural evolution in the Northern Hemisphere populations. Our study demonstrates how cultural evolutionary approaches can be used to make inferences about the learning processes underlying cultural transmission and how they might generate emergent population-level processes. This article is part of the theme issue 'Vocal learning in animals and humans'.

SUBMITTER: Zandberg L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8419575 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Global cultural evolutionary model of humpback whale song.

Zandberg Lies L Lachlan Robert F RF Lamoni Luca L Garland Ellen C EC

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 20210906 1836

Humpback whale song is an extraordinary example of vocal cultural behaviour. In northern populations, the complex songs show long-lasting traditions that slowly evolve, while in the South Pacific, periodic revolutions occur when songs are adopted from neighbouring populations and rapidly spread. In this species, vocal learning cannot be studied in the laboratory, learning is instead inferred from the songs' complexity and patterns of transmission. Here, we used individual-based cultural evolutio ...[more]

PMID: 34482732

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Project description:Why do humpback whales sing? This paper considers the hypothesis that humpback whales may use song for long range sonar. Given the vocal and social behavior of humpback whales, in several cases it is not apparent how they monitor the movements of distant whales or prey concentrations. Unless distant animals produce sounds, humpback whales are unlikely to be aware of their presence or actions. Some field observations are strongly suggestive of the use of song as sonar. Humpback whales sometimes stop singing and then rapidly approach distant whales in cases where sound production by those whales is not apparent, and singers sometimes alternately sing and swim while attempting to intercept another whale that is swimming evasively. In the evolutionary development of modern cetaceans, perceptual mechanisms have shifted from reliance on visual scanning to the active generation and monitoring of echoes. It is hypothesized that as the size and distance of relevant events increased, humpback whales developed adaptive specializations for long-distance echolocation. Differences between use of songs by humpback whales and use of sonar by other echolocating species are discussed, as are similarities between bat echolocation and singing by humpback whales. Singing humpback whales are known to emit sounds intense enough to generate echoes at long ranges, and to flexibly control the timing and qualities of produced sounds. The major problem for the hypothesis is the lack of recordings of echoes from other whales arriving at singers immediately before they initiate actions related to those whales. An earlier model of echoic processing by singing humpback whales is here revised to incorporate recent discoveries. According to the revised model, both direct echoes from targets and modulations in song-generated reverberation can provide singers with information that can help them make decisions about future actions related to mating, traveling, and foraging. The model identifies acoustic and structural features produced by singing humpback whales that may facilitate a singer's ability to interpret changes in echoic scenes and suggests that interactive signal coordination by singing whales may help them to avoid mutual interference. Specific, testable predictions of the model are presented.

Project description:Humpback whale songs associated with breeding behaviors are increasingly reported outside of traditional low latitude breeding grounds. Songs from a subarctic feeding ground during the winter were quantitatively characterized to investigate the structure and temporal changes of the songs at such an atypical location. Recordings were collected from 26. January to 12. March, 2011, using bottom mounted recorders. Humpback songs were detected on 91% of the recording days with peak singing activities during 9.-26. February. The majority of the recordings included multiple chorusing singers. The songs were characterized by a) common static themes which transitioned consistently to predictable themes, b) shifting themes which occurred less predictably and c) rare themes. A set median sequence was found for four different periods (sets) of recordings (approximately 1 week each). The set medians were highly similar and formed a single cluster indicating that the sequences of themes sung in this area belonged to a single cluster of songs despite of the variation caused by the shifting themes. These subarctic winter songs could, thus, represent a characteristic song type for this area which is comparable to extensively studied songs from traditional low latitude breeding grounds. An increase in the number of themes per sequence was observed throughout the recording period including minor changes in the application of themes in the songs; indicating a gradual song progression. The results confirm that continual singing of sophisticated songs occur during the breeding season in the subarctic. In addition to being a well-established summer feeding ground the study area appears to be an important overwintering site for humpback whales delaying or canceling their migration where males engage in active sexual displays, i.e. singing. Importantly, such singing activity on a shared feeding ground likely aids the cultural transmission of songs in the North Atlantic.

Dataset Information

Global cultural evolutionary model of humpback whale song.

Publications

Global cultural evolutionary model of humpback whale song.

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