Cultural Behaviour in Cetaceans

The cultural behaviours of cetaceans are both shaped by and help to structure the complex and diverse societies in which they live. Examples such as the tool use of bottlenose dolphins, the vocal dialects of sperm and killer whales, and the ever-changing song of the humpback whale all depend upon capacities for social learning which are comparable to or exceed those of the primates. Studying these animals in the wild is difficult, but the results of long-term field observations combined with modelling and laboratory studies are now revealing multiple aspects of these nonhuman animal cultures in impressive detail, and providing insights into cultural evolution and gene-culture coevolution in our own species.