The social and reproductive biology of Humpback Whales: an ecological perspective

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Related collections

Most cited references 70

Record: found
Abstract: not found
Article: not found

Natural Selection of Parental Ability to Vary the Sex Ratio of Offspring

R L Trivers, D. Willard (1973)

0 comments Cited 624 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: not found
Book: not found

The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems

Randy Thornhill, John Alcock (1983)

0 comments Cited 416 times – based on 0 reviews

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

1) Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce a series of beautiful and varied sounds for a period of 7 to 30 minutes and then repeat the same series with considerable precision. We call such a performance "singing" and each repeated series of sounds a "song." 2) All prolonged sound patterns (recorded so far) of this species are in song form, and each individual adheres to its own song type. 3) There seem to be several song types around which whales construct their songs, but individual variations are pronounced (there is only a very rough species-specific song pattern). 4) Songs are repeated without any obvious pause between them; thus song sessions may continue for several hours. 5) The sequence of themes in successive songs by the same individual is the same. Although the number of phrases per theme varies, no theme is ever completely omitted in our sample. 6) Loud sounds in the ocean, for example dynamite blasts, do not seem to affect the whale's songs. 7) The sex of the performer of any of the songs we have studied is unknown. 8) The function of the songs is unknown.