Abstract
Most species of whale spend the majority of their lives well away from land, are capable of migrating over large distances and are difficult to identify individually. However, conservation measures require a detailed understanding of their social structure, breeding behaviour and migration patterns. The advent of DNA fingerprinting permits a systematic investigation of such parameters. In the Faeroe Islands there exists a traditional harvest of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), in which intact social groups (pods) are captured. This affords a unique opportunity to study genetic relationships within and between pods. We report here on a paternity analysis, using DNA fingerprinting, of mother-fetus pairs and males sampled from complete pods. In addition, a single, highly polymorphic minisatellite locus was used to infer degrees of relatedness between groups of fetuses and females. Taken together, our results suggest that pods consist of closely related adult females and their offspring. Sexually mature males either move frequently between pods or remain in their natal pod but refrain from mating with female relatives. Whichever hypothesis is correct, the data suggest that each male spends only a few months with the female post-mating and individual males often father several fetuses within a pod.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Amos, W, Barrett, J A, and Dover, G A. 1991. Breeding system and social structure in the Faeroese pilot whale as revealed by DNA fingerprinting. Rep Int Whal Commn (Special Issue) (In Press).
Balcomb, K C, and Bigg, M A. 1986. Population biology of three resident killer whale pods in Puget Sound and off Southern Vancouver Island. In: Kirkevold, B. and Lockard, J. S. (eds) Behavioural Biology of Killer Wales. Alan R. Liss, inc., New York. pp. 85–95.
Bigg, M A, Macaskie, I B, and Ellis, G. 1976. Abundance and movements of killer whales off eastern and southern Vancouver Island with comments on management. In: Preliminary Report Arctic Biol Sta Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.
Burke, T. 1989. DNA fingerprinting and other methods for the study of mating success. Trends Ecol Evol, 4, 139–144.
Burke, T, and Bruford, M W. 1987. DNA fingerprinting in birds. Nature, 327, 149–152.
Burke, T, Davies, N B, Bruford, M W, and Hatchwell, B J. 1989. Parental care and mating behaviour of polyandrous dunnocks Prunella modularis related to paternity by DNA fingerprinting. Nature, 338, 249–251.
Jeffreys, A J, Brookfield, J F Y, and Semeonoff, R. 1985. Positive identification of an immigration test-case using human DNA fingerprints. Nature, 317, 818–819.
Jeffreys, A J, Wilson, V, and Thein, S L. 1985a. Hypervariable ‘minisatellite’ regions in human DNA. Nature, 316, 67–73.
Jeffreys, A J, Wilson, V, and Thein, S L. 1985b. Individual-specific ‘fingerprints’of human DNA. Nature, 316, 76–79.
Joensen, J P. 1976. Pilot Whaling in the Faroe Islands. Reprinted from: Ethnol Scand, Berlingska Boktryckeriet Lund.
Kasuya, T, and March, H. 1984. Life history and reproductive biology of the short-finned pilot whale, Globicephala macrorhynchus, off the Pacific coast of Japan. Rep Int Whal Commn (Special Issue 6) 259–310.
Niclassen, P. 1945. Foeroerne i kronikker og foredrag. Kobenhaven. (cited by Joensen.)
A Ryggi, M D. 1953. Dyralaera 1, Sugdyr. Torshavn. (cited by Joensen.)
Sergeant, D E. 1962. The biology of the pilot whale or pothead whale Globicephala melas (Traill) in Newfoundland waters. Bull Fish Res Board Can, 132, 1–84.
Wetton, J H, Carter, R E, Parkin, D T, and Walters, D. 1987. Demographic study of a wild house sparrow population by DNA fingerprinting. Nature, 327, 147–149.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Amos, B., Barrett, J. & Dover, G. Breeding behaviour of pilot whales revealed by DNA fingerprinting. Heredity 67, 49–55 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1991.64
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1991.64
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Host age predicts parasite occurrence, richness, and nested infracommunities in a pilot whale-helminth network
Parasitology Research (2020)
-
Diet of the social groups of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar
Marine Biology (2008)
-
Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar
acta ethologica (2008)
-
A combined DNA-microsatellite and isozyme analysis of the population structure of the harbour porpoise in Danish waters and West Greenland
Heredity (1997)
-
Population structure and seasonal movements of narwhals, Monodon monoceros, determined from mtDNA analysis
Heredity (1997)