Acoustic Production Rates in a Group of Captive Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Over Population Change
Date of Award
2007
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Harley, Heidi
Keywords
Bottlenose Dolphin, Phonation, Vocalization
Area of Concentration
Psychology
Abstract
Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are social animals that are especially dynamic in the way they produce and receive acoustic information in their aquatic environment. Observations of their acoustic productions have led to the identification of three main categories: whistles, echolocation clicks, and burst pulse sounds. Most productions can be placed in each of these categories based on spectral analyses of their acoustic properties. Research that reports baseline rates at which dolphins produce sounds of each category has not been made available in past work. The present work sought to establish baseline rates at which dolphins produce sounds of the three main categories over several conditions in which total population size and in-group pairings of individuals varied. Production rates were reported in a standardized format in terms of phonations/dolphin/minute. Results showed that production rates did not vary solely based on population size but did vary based on individual pairings and context. Echolocation click trains were the most common phonation followed by burst pulse sounds and whistles which occurred at about the same rate. Overall, the rates at which groups of bottlenose dolphins produce phonations were found to change in an manner that varies according to factors related to population increases, grouping conditions, and novel situations.
Recommended Citation
Pressman, Evan J., "Acoustic Production Rates in a Group of Captive Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) Over Population Change" (2007). Theses & ETDs. 3841.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/3841
Rights
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