Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
Published on: May 28, 2007
Network-based diffusion analysis reveals cultural transmission of lobtail feeding in humpback whales
Jenny Allen1, Mason Weinrich, Will Hoppitt
1Sea Mammal Research Unit and Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Fife, UK.
Abstract:
We used network-based diffusion analysis to reveal the cultural spread of a naturally occurring foraging innovation, lobtail feeding, through a population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) over a period of 27 years. Support for models with a social transmission component was 6 to 23 orders of magnitude greater than for models without. The spatial and temporal distribution of sand lance, a prey species, was also important in predicting the rate of acquisition. Our results, coupled with existing knowledge about song traditions, show that this species can maintain multiple independently evolving traditions in its populations. These insights strengthen the case that cetaceans represent a peak in the evolution of nonhuman culture, independent of the primate lineage.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Flow
Marine Microbial Ecology
Convergent Evolution
Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms
The Evidence for Evolution
Applications of Molecular Taxonomy
