<
https://theconversation.com/playful-young-male-dolphins-grow-up-to-have-more-offspring-231491>
"As humans, we grow up playing with other children. Animals of many species
likewise play with their peers. But why?
Play has its costs, especially for young animals. It uses energy that could
help them grow, and it can make them more vulnerable to predators.
Of course, play is fun and highly rewarding. However, it’s not clear that these
immediate benefits are worth the potentially great costs.
In a new study, my colleagues and I shed light on why play is so important – at
least for the male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay in Western
Australia. Among these famously frisky cetaceans, those who spend more time
playing as juveniles end up siring more offspring as adults. The research is
published in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
