Groups of allied male dolphins in Western Australia’s Shark Bay form shifting, overlapping social networks unlike anything before seen in comparable animals or other dolphin communities.
Studies of male dolphins had previously identified three different kinds of alliance: “first-order” family groups, slightly larger “second-order” alliances, and less common and less stable “third-order” alliances. The new study examined how these third-order alliances form and change, and found they comprise a surprisingly flexible social network.
Read more at UNSW Sydney