"When he goes on research trips, Greg O'Corry-Crowe stays out on the ice for weeks observing beluga whales and their mating strategies. He says recent developments in technology, better sensors and smaller instruments now allow him and his colleagues unprecedented access to observe the whales' behavior. GREG O'CORRY-CROWE: So we can go anywhere, set up a camp and then just deploy with a very small team. And oh, my God, it's mind-blowing what you get to see."
"They studied the way these whales choose mating partners. They didn't necessarily think that the whales were monogamous, but they did think it was the males who were primarily seeking out multiple partners. Turns out the females also want to mix things up. O'CORRY CROWE: All our predictions based on, you know, big, powerful males dominating the breeding season hasn't held up. RIDDLE: He wonders if the females are working to establish a big whale village rather than a small nuclear family."
"This strategy is similar to one that some primates use, says Kit Opie. He studies evolutionary anthropology at University of Bristol. Chimpanzee and baboon females mate with multiple males. That keeps their offspring safe, says Opie. KIT OPIE: Because all the males think, I could be the father of the subsequent infant, so I'm not going to harm it. And it's a really good strategy."
Advances in technology and smaller sensors enable researchers to observe beluga whale behavior in unprecedented detail during extended field camps. Beluga females participate in mating with multiple males, contradicting expectations that dominant males monopolize breeding. Female multi-mating can produce paternity uncertainty among males that reduces threats to infants and may favor larger social groupings over nuclear-family structures. Similar strategies occur in some primates; chimpanzee and baboon females mate with multiple males to reduce infanticide risk. Comparative rankings place humans relatively high on a monogamy-commitment scale, while species such as beavers and Ethiopian wolves show stronger pair bonds.
Read at www.npr.org
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]