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Whales and dolphins lead 'human-like lives' thanks to big brains, says study
[In] a new study, researchers compiled a list of the rich behaviours spotted in 90 different species of dolphins, whales and porpoises, and found that the bigger the species' brain, the more complex – indeed, the more "human-like" – their lives are likely to be.
This suggests that the "cultural brain hypothesis" – the theory that suggests our intelligence developed as a way of coping with large and complex social groups – may apply to whales and dolphins, as well as humans.
Writing in the journal, Nature Ecology and Evolution [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0336-y] [DX], the researchers claim that complex social and cultural characteristics, such as hunting together, developing regional dialects and learning from observation, are linked to the expansion of the animals' brains – a process known as encephalisation.
The researchers gathered records of dolphins playing with humpback whales, helping fishermen with their catches, and even producing signature whistles for dolphins that are absent – suggesting the animals may even gossip. Another common behaviour was adult animals raising unrelated young. "There is the saying that 'it takes a village to raise a child' [and that] seems to be true for both whales and humans," said Michael Muthukrishna, an economic psychologist and co-author on the study at the London School of Economics.
Also at Newsweek.
Previously: Inter-species Communication Inches Closer
Dolphins Have a Language That Helps Them Solve Problems Together
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 17 2017, @09:59PM (2 children)
Your point is? The human world has been built, run, and dominated by gangs since it's beginning, that is the normal course of things. People SHOULD look out for themselves and their neighbors and defend each other from external aggression, and when it comes time to be the aggressor, better have a team behind you. Humans are not a species that lives individually.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @01:31AM (1 child)
That "it takes a village to raise a child" nonsense in the summary is how you get street kids. That is: pickpockets, shoplifters, muggers, burglers...
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:31AM
Nobody is saying the parents should abrogate all responsibility to the community, just that the parents and immediate family alone aren't enough to teach a child about how to function in society: How to behave with strangers, how to differentiate friends from foes, how (and when) to properly assert oneself / negotiate / compromise, how much trust it is appropriate to put in different people... These things require direct lessons and experience that can only be perfected by interacting with a range of children and adults of varying levels of familiarity.