Groups of related belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) travel together during their seasonal migrations in and around Hudson Bay
Groups of related belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) travel together during their seasonal migrations in and around Hudson Bay
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2012.2552
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发表时间：
2013-02-07
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Turgeon, Julie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Colbeck, Gabriel J.;Duchesne, Pierre;Turgeon, Julie
涉及与亲属长期联系的社会结构应该有助于学习复杂行为，如长途迁徙。在哈德逊湾（加拿大）及其周围，三种白鲸形成了一个泛鱼群，但在不同的夏季地区有不同的迁徙行为。我们分析了1524头白鲸的13个微卫星位点的遗传变异，以检验关于白鲸社会结构的假设。我们发现，在整个迁徙周期中，母亲-后代对的比例很大，但平均亲缘关系仅在迁徙期间超越了近亲关系。在同一地点，但在一年中不同的日子或月份捕获的一对白鲸的平均亲缘关系明显高于随机预期，这表明白鲸在迁徙过程中与亲属网络保持联系。平均而言，雌性（雌性-雌性或雄性-雌性）的配对比雄性的配对更有亲缘关系，雄性似乎从母系群体中分离出来，与其他成熟的雄性联系在一起。总之，我们的研究结果表明，除了严格意义上的父母，亲属，尤其是女性，在维持一个可以促进迁移路线学习的社会结构中发挥作用。文化保守主义可能会限制附近夏季种群对濒临灭绝种群的贡献，比如东哈德逊湾白鲸。
Social structure involving long-term associations with relatives should facilitate the learning of complex behaviours such as long-distance migration. In and around Hudson Bay (Canada), three stocks of beluga whales form a panmictic unit, but have different migratory behaviours associated with different summering areas. We analysed genetic variation at 13 microsatellite loci among 1524 belugas, to test hypotheses about social structure in belugas. We found significant proportions of mother-offspring pairs throughout the migratory cycle, but average relatedness extended beyond close kinship only during migration. Average relatedness was significantly above random expectations for pairs caught at the same site but on different days or months of a year, suggesting that belugas maintain associations with a network of relatives during migration. Pairs involving a female (female-female or male-female) were on average more related than pairs of males, and males seemed to disperse from their matrilineal group to associate with other mature males. Altogether, our results indicate that relatives other than strictly parents, and especially females, play a role in maintaining a social structure that could facilitate the learning of migration routes. Cultural conservatism may limit contributions from nearby summer stocks to endangered stocks such as the Eastern Hudson Bay beluga.