Friendship is magic: male dolphins with close friends age more slowly
By Livia Gerber, Postdoctoral Fellow in Genetics, CSIRO
Katharina J. Peters, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong
Lee A Rollins, Professor, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney
For more than 40 years, researchers in Shark Bay, Western Australia, have been watching the lives of a very unusual group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). The male dolphins in this group form one of the most complex social systems known outside of humans, complete with lifelong friendships, supportive alliances, and cooperative partnerships that shape their entire lives, including how many calves they sire.
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Sunday, December 14, 2025