title: Network-based diffusion analysis reveals cultural transmission of lobtail feeding in humpback whales.
abstract: We used network-based diffusion analysis to reveal the cultural spread of a naturally occurring foraging innovation, lobtail feeding, through a population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) over a period of 27 years. Support for models with a social transmission component was 6 to 23 orders of magnitude greater than for models without. The spatial and temporal distribution of sand lance, a prey species, was also important in predicting the rate of acquisition. Our results, coupled with existing knowledge about song traditions, show that this species can maintain multiple independently evolving traditions in its populations. These insights strengthen the case that cetaceans represent a peak in the evolution of nonhuman culture, independent of the primate lineage.
authors.affiliation: Sea Mammal Research Unit and Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Fife, UK.
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Mason
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weinrich
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hoppitt
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rendell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D050640:Humpback Whale / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011153:Population; D012919:Social Behavior; D060756:Social Networking; D014163:Transfer, Psychology