Post-whaling shift in mating tactics in male humpback whales.
Journal
Communications biology
ISSN: 2399-3642
Titre abrégé: Commun Biol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101719179
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
16 02 2023
16 02 2023
Historique:
received:
01
08
2022
accepted:
20
01
2023
entrez:
16
2
2023
pubmed:
17
2
2023
medline:
22
2
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Recent studies have shown behavioural plasticity in mating strategies can increase a population's ability to cope with anthropogenic impacts. The eastern Australian humpback whale population was whaled almost to extinction in the 1960s (~200 whales) and has recovered to pre-whaling numbers (>20,000 whales). Using an 18-year dataset, where the population increased from approximately 3,700 to 27,000 whales, we found that as male density increased over time, the use of mating tactics shifted towards more males engaging in non-singing physical competition over singing. Singing was the more successful tactic in earlier post-whaling years whereas non-singing behaviour was the more successful tactic in later years. Together, our study uncovers how changes in both local, and population-level male density resulted in a shift in the frequency, and fitness pay-off, of alternative mating tactics in a wild animal. This individual-level plasticity in male humpback whale mating tactics likely contributed to minimising their risk of extinction following a dramatic change in their social landscape due to whaling.
Identifiants
pubmed: 36797323
doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-04509-7
pii: 10.1038/s42003-023-04509-7
pmc: PMC9935900
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
162Informations de copyright
© 2023. The Author(s).
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