DNA suggests cultural traits affect whales' evolution
Vogel, G.
Science 282(5394): 1616
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 9867655 Document Number: 489755
In this issue, marine biologist Hal Whitehead of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, suggests that cultural traits affect whales' evolution. Whitehead examined whales' mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is inherited only from the mother, and discovered that groups with similar vocalizations and markings were related. Published genetic analyses showed that species such as sperm, pilot, and killer whales--all consisting of matrilineal societies in which offspring remain with maternal relatives--have very low diversity of mtDNA. Whitehead concludes that whales learn calls and, presumably, other behaviors from their maternal relatives and that the behaviors affect survival patterns.