Decades-Long Social Memory in Bottlenose Dolphins

Source: PDF mirror of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper Authors: Jason N. Bruck Date: 2013-07-15 Venue: Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280

Key points

• Shows that dolphins can recognize former associates by signature whistles after separations of up to two decades.
• Positions this memory as ecologically relevant to a fluid fission-fusion system in which social threats, allies, and hunting partners may reappear after long gaps.
• The result matters for orchestration because it suggests that dynamic coalition systems need durable identity and relationship memory if they are to recombine effectively.
• In other words, flexible grouping without long-lived recognition degrades into randomness.