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Shelling (fishing)
Shelling (or conching) is a rare, innovative tool-based foraging strategy observed in bottlenose dolphins (''Tursiops'' sp.). This behavior includes dolphins driving prey into an empty conch shell, and then pouring the shells contents into its mouth. History The behavior have been observed in bottlenose dolphin by Simon Allen, of the University of Bristol in England, and Michael Krützen, of the University of Zurich who have surveyed Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ... since 2007, collecting both genetic and behavioral data for more than 1,000 dolphins; 19 of which have been observed to use the shelling strategy a total of 42 times. The shelling strategy is rarely observed and may be a new and innovative foraging strategy developed by bottlenose dolphins. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bottlenose Dolphin
Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the common bottlenose dolphin (''Tursiops truncatus'') and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (''Tursiops aduncus''). Others, like the Burrunan dolphin (''Tursiops (aduncus) australis''), may be alternately considered their own species or be subspecies of ''T. aduncus''. Bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide, being found everywhere except for the Arctic and Antarctic Circle regions. Their name derives from the Latin ''tursio'' (dolphin) and ''truncatus'' for their characteristic truncated teeth. Numerous investigations of bottlenose dolphin intelligence have been conducted, examining mimicry, use of artificial language, object categorization, and self-recognition. They can use tools (sponging; using marine sponges to forage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shark Bay
Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's official listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage Site reads: : History The record of Australian Aboriginal occupation of Shark Bay extends to years BP. At that time most of the area was dry land, rising sea levels flooding Shark Bay between BP and BP. A considerable number of aboriginal midden sites have been found, especially on Peron Peninsula and Dirk Hartog Island which provide evidence of some of the foods gathered from the waters and nearby land areas. An expedition led by Dirk Hartog happened upon the area in 1616, becoming the second group of Europeans known to have visited Australia. (The crew of the ''Duyfken'', under Willem Janszoon, had visited Cape York in 1606). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Hitchhiking
Cultural hitchhiking is a hypothesized gene-culture coevolutionary process through which cultural selection, sexual selection based on cultural preference, limits the diversity at genetically neutral loci being transmitted in parallel to selective cultural traits. The process is thought to account for exceptionally low diversity in neutral loci such as control regions of the mitochondrial genome unaccounted for by any other selective forces. Simply put, selection for certain learned social and cultural behaviors can manifest in specific shaping of a population’s genetic makeup. While the notion that culture plays a significant role in shaping community genetics is widely accepted in the context of human populations it had not been considered or documented in non-human organisms until the late 1990s. The term was coined by the cetologist Hal Whitehead who studies the cultures and population genetics of matrilineal whale communities. Cultural hitchhiking has been proposed as a ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolphins
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the brackish dolphins), and the extinct Lipotidae (baiji or Chinese river dolphin). There are 40 extant species named as dolphins. Dolphins range in size from the and Maui's dolphin to the and orca. Various species of dolphins exhibit sexual dimorphism where the males are larger than females. They have streamlined bodies and two limbs that are modified into flippers. Though not quite as flexible as seals, some dolphins can briefly travel at speeds of per hour or leap about . Dolphins use their conical teeth to capture fast-moving prey. They have well-developed hearing which is adapted for both air and water. It is so well developed that some can survive even if they are blind. Some species are well adapted for diving to great depths. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mammal Behavior
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles (including birds) from which they diverged in the Carboniferous, over 300 million years ago. Around 6,400 extant species of mammals have been described divided into 29 orders. The largest orders, in terms of number of species, are the rodents, bats, and Eulipotyphla (hedgehogs, moles, shrews, and others). The next three are the Primates (including humans, apes, monkeys, and others), the Artiodactyla (cetaceans and even-toed ungulates), and the Carnivora (cats, dogs, seals, and others). In terms of cladistics, which reflects evolutionary history, mammals are the only living members of the Synapsida (synapsids); this clade, together with Sauropsida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
