Killer Whales, Ground Squirrels, and Elephants
Yet another possible example of animal culture comes from the ocean and studies of orcas, commonly known as killer whales. Some orcas eat fish, while others dine on marine mammals, including smaller kinds of whales and elephant seals. Orcas, besides varying in their eating habits, also differ in the types of vocalizations they make. The whales of different pods (small groups) make individualized sounds when they meet one another. Whale researcher Hal Whitehead of Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia believes that the variations in eating habits and vocalizations evolved through cultural processes.
For example, in studies of mammal-eating orcas, Whitehead and his colleagues saw behavior that appeared to be a form of teaching. The researchers observed and filmed orcas, which can grow to a length of more than 9 meters (30 feet), crashing up through the surface of the water to catch seals basking on beaches or ice floes. The adult orcas seemed to show the younger ones how to beach themselves in pursuit of a seal and then get back into the water. Orcas, Whitehead commented, “are one of the few species [for which] there is good evidence of adults teaching the young a complex behavior like running up on a beach to catch a seal, which is difficult and dangerous. If they get stuck on the beach, they die.”
Primates, birds, and whales offer the most compelling evidence for culture in animals. However, researchers of animal behavior can cite numerous other species in which behaviors appear to be passed on through imitation and teaching. A number of animal species seem to learn specialized feeding behaviors from their parents. A good example of this is seen with Belding's ground squirrels, group-living rodents of the western United States.
Belding's ground squirrels are well-known among biologists for the alarm calls that females make to warn their offspring and other relatives of impending danger from predators such as hawks. However, studies suggest that female Belding's ground squirrels also teach their offspring which types of foods—including various kinds of seeds, fruits, leaves, stems, and insects—to eat. Some moms are better than others at choosing the most nutritious foods, and they pass these choices along to their pups. These pups are thus more likely to survive to maturity than the offspring of mothers less skilled in foraging.
African elephants are another mammal species in which females seem to play a predominant role in teaching survival skills to youngsters. African elephants live in herds organized around family units consisting of adult females and their offspring. As with Belding's ground squirrels, the young elephants depend upon their mothers to teach them foraging and other activities necessary for survival. The calves in different herds learn to perform these activities in slightly different ways, evidence that these behaviors are transmitted culturally.
