Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins
Although tool use offers obvious benefits to the user, the role of costs in the spread of tool use has received scant attention. Sponge tool use is a foraging technique restricted to a small subpopulation of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Shark Bay, Australia, that carry basket sponges on...
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The Royal Society
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241900 |
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| author | Ellen Jacobs Chong Wei Christine Erbe Janet Mann |
| author_facet | Ellen Jacobs Chong Wei Christine Erbe Janet Mann |
| author_sort | Ellen Jacobs |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although tool use offers obvious benefits to the user, the role of costs in the spread of tool use has received scant attention. Sponge tool use is a foraging technique restricted to a small subpopulation of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Shark Bay, Australia, that carry basket sponges on their beaks to probe the seafloor and flush out camouflaged fish, widening the search area and protecting the beak from abrasion. While most instances of animal tool use extend the phenotype, we hypothesized that sponges interfere with echolocation, particularly reception of echoes along the lower jaw. To evaluate how echolocation signals change while travelling through sponge tissue, we simulated echolocation using finite-element analysis based on digital models of sponge species (Echinodictyum mesenterinum and Ircinia spp.). We find that acoustic properties of the echolocation signal are changed in the presence of Ircinia spp. and, to a lesser extent, E. mesenterinum. Given distortions vary with each sponge, dolphins must adaptively and flexibly compensate during neural signal processing. This explains why sponging takes so long to learn, is strictly vertically transmitted and does not spread to others despite close association with tool users. Taken together, these findings provide a compelling look at the underlying intrinsic and extrinsic forces shaping tool use in wild populations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ad5e3b94e45349b9a5d45a49bdfc96d4 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
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| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-ad5e3b94e45349b9a5d45a49bdfc96d42025-07-16T12:40:54ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032025-07-0112710.1098/rsos.241900Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphinsEllen Jacobs0Chong Wei1Christine Erbe2Janet Mann3Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USACentre for Marine Science and Technology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, AustraliaCentre for Marine Science and Technology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, AustraliaDepartment of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USAAlthough tool use offers obvious benefits to the user, the role of costs in the spread of tool use has received scant attention. Sponge tool use is a foraging technique restricted to a small subpopulation of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Shark Bay, Australia, that carry basket sponges on their beaks to probe the seafloor and flush out camouflaged fish, widening the search area and protecting the beak from abrasion. While most instances of animal tool use extend the phenotype, we hypothesized that sponges interfere with echolocation, particularly reception of echoes along the lower jaw. To evaluate how echolocation signals change while travelling through sponge tissue, we simulated echolocation using finite-element analysis based on digital models of sponge species (Echinodictyum mesenterinum and Ircinia spp.). We find that acoustic properties of the echolocation signal are changed in the presence of Ircinia spp. and, to a lesser extent, E. mesenterinum. Given distortions vary with each sponge, dolphins must adaptively and flexibly compensate during neural signal processing. This explains why sponging takes so long to learn, is strictly vertically transmitted and does not spread to others despite close association with tool users. Taken together, these findings provide a compelling look at the underlying intrinsic and extrinsic forces shaping tool use in wild populations.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241900echolocationtool usefinite element analysisTursiops aduncus |
| spellingShingle | Ellen Jacobs Chong Wei Christine Erbe Janet Mann Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins Royal Society Open Science echolocation tool use finite element analysis Tursiops aduncus |
| title | Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins |
| title_full | Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins |
| title_fullStr | Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins |
| title_short | Cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade-offs: insights from sponge-using dolphins |
| title_sort | cultural transmission of animal tool use driven by trade offs insights from sponge using dolphins |
| topic | echolocation tool use finite element analysis Tursiops aduncus |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.241900 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ellenjacobs culturaltransmissionofanimaltoolusedrivenbytradeoffsinsightsfromspongeusingdolphins AT chongwei culturaltransmissionofanimaltoolusedrivenbytradeoffsinsightsfromspongeusingdolphins AT christineerbe culturaltransmissionofanimaltoolusedrivenbytradeoffsinsightsfromspongeusingdolphins AT janetmann culturaltransmissionofanimaltoolusedrivenbytradeoffsinsightsfromspongeusingdolphins |