Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin.
这里是《科学美国人》的60秒科学，我是凯伦·霍普金。
It’s great to have friends. Especially if you’re an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin. Because new research shows that the males who are the most popular with the lads are also the most successful with the ladies. Researchers describe how these affable marine mammals maintain and leverage their complex social connections in a pair of papers in the journal Current Biology.
有朋友真好。特别是如果你是印度太平洋宽吻海豚。因为新的研究表明，最受雄性海豚欢迎的雄性海豚也最受雌性海豚喜爱。研究人员在《当代生物学》杂志的两篇论文中，描述了这些和蔼可亲的海洋哺乳动物，如何维持和利用它们复杂的社会关系。
Stephanie King: Male dolphins form lifelong cooperative relationships.
雄性海豚形成终生的合作关系。
Hopkin: Stephanie King of the University of Bristol. She’s been studying the dolphin population that inhabits Shark Bay…a UNESCO World Heritage site off the coast of western Australia.
斯蒂芬妮·金来自布里斯托大学。她一直在研究栖息在鲨鱼湾的海豚种群……鲨鱼湾是澳大利亚西海岸附近的联合国教科文组织世界遗产。
King: By studying populations like the Shark Bay dolphins for many years, we start to see the complex ways they maintain their important social relationships.
通过多年来对鲨鱼湾海豚等种群的研究，我们开始了解它们维持重要社会关系的复杂方式。
Hopkin: These connections are more than casual acquaintanceships. They’re crucial for the dolphins to be able to fend off rivals and secure mates.
这些关系不仅仅是认识，它们对于海豚抵御对手和保护配偶至关重要。
King: When navigating their social world, it is those males that are more adept at building strong friendships that are ultimately more successful.
在它们的社交世界中，那些更善于建立牢固友谊的雄性海豚最终会更成功。
Hopkin: So what do these aquatic alliances look like?
那么这些联盟会是什么样的呢?
Livia Gerber: In Shark Bay, every male is embedded in a social network consisting of 4 to 14 males.
在鲨鱼湾，每个雄性海豚都被嵌入一个由4到14名雄性海豚组成的社交网络。
Hopkin: Livia Gerber of the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
悉尼新南威尔士大学的利维亚·格伯。
Gerber: These 4 to 14 males are also known as second order alliances and they are the core social unit of the male bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay.
这4到14只雄性海豚也被称为二级联盟，它们是鲨鱼湾雄性宽吻海豚的核心社会单位。
Hopkin: This dolphin party consists of unrelated individuals of a similar age that remain together for decades. Now, when one of these dolphins is looking for love, he’ll select one or two wingmen…or maybe fin-pals?... from this larger posse to help him find a fertile female.
这个由年龄相近的无关个体组成的海豚联盟，一般能维持几十年甚至终身。当这些海豚中的一只要寻找爱情时，他会选择一两个僚机……或者也许是鳍友?……从这个更大的团队中帮他找到一个有生育能力的雌性。
Gerber: While it was previously known that males have to cooperate in order to sire offspring in Shark Bay, it wasn’t known which male is the most successful one.
虽然之前知道雄性必须合作才能在鲨鱼湾繁衍后代，但不知道哪只雄性是最成功的。
Hopkin: Is it the male with the most experience? The one with the largest territory? Or is there something about the bromance that holds the key to reproductive success?
是经验最丰富的雄性吗?还是领土最大的那个?又或者，有没有什么关于兄弟情谊的东西是生殖成功的关键?
Gerber: To answer this question, I [therefore] looked at the genetic profiles of more than 400 dolphins in Shark Bay and carried out paternity tests.
为了回答这个问题，我[因此]查看了鲨鱼湾 400 多只海豚的基因图谱，并进行了亲子鉴定。
Hopkin: Once she identified the daddies, she could determine what quality they shared.
一旦她确定了这些父亲，她就可以确定那些成功海豚的共性。
Gerber: I was quite surprised by my results because they were contrasting to so many other species, where the oldest males sire the most offspring or the males with the largest territories. As opposed to what we see in these other species, male bottlenose dolphins that have the strongest social bonds and multiple strong social bonds—so the most popular males—sire the most offspring.
我对我的结果感到非常惊讶，因为它们与许多其他物种形成鲜明对比，在这些物种中，最年长的雄性产生最多的后代或拥有最大领土的雄性。与我们在这些其他物种中看到的相反，具有最强社会纽带和多重强大社会纽带的雄性宽吻海豚——因此最受欢迎的雄性——生出最多的后代。
Hopkin: Gerber says that the males with more friends are likely more often invited to cruise for females…giving them more opportunities for cooperative canoodling. Ok, so dolphins do better on group dates. But how do they establish and maintain these critical friendships?
格伯说，有更多朋友的雄性可能更常被邀请为雌性巡游……这给了它们更多合作的机会。好吧，海豚在集体约会中表现更好。但他们是如何建立和维持这些关键的友谊呢?
King: Through physical contact much like hugging or holding hands in humans.
通过身体接触，就像人类的拥抱或牵手一样。
Hopkin: Or like grooming in other primates, like chimps or monkeys…
或者像在其他灵长类动物身上梳理毛发一样，比如黑猩猩或猴子…
Emma Chereskin: …where individuals will devote a lot of time and energy into grooming their closest friends to strengthen those relationships.
……个体将花费大量时间和精力培养最亲密的朋友，以加强这些关系。
Hopkin: Emma Chereskin of the University of Bristol. She says the problem with all this physical interaction is…there’s only so many hours in a day.
布里斯托尔大学的艾玛·切尔斯金表示，所有这些身体互动的问题是……一天只有这么多小时。
Chereskin: When group sizes become larger, this places a constraint on how much time is available for an individual to devote to grooming key social partners.
当团队规模扩大时，这就限制了个体有多少时间来培养关键的社交伙伴。
Hopkin: Enter the “social bonding hypothesis.”
进入“社会联系假说”。
Chereskin: In this hypothesis, vocal exchanges can serve as a replacement for grooming to maintain social bonds.
在这个假设中，声音交流可以替代梳洗这种身体接触来维持社会联系。
King: Like us chatting regularly with our circle of friends.
就像我们经常和朋友圈聊天一样。
Hopkin: For dolphins, those chats take the form of exchanging “signature whistles.”
对于海豚来说，这些聊天以交换“签名口哨”的形式进行。
Chereskin: A signature whistle is a vocalization that is completely unique to each dolphin that functions much like a human name.
“签名口哨”是每只海豚完全独特的发声，其功能很像人名。
Hopkin: That was Kooks…a member of the Alley Cat alliance.
那是库克斯……胡同猫联盟的成员。
Hopkin: And that’s his pal Pimento.
那是它的朋友皮门托。
Chereskin: So when they use their signature whistle they’re advertising their identity to those around them as a way to maintain group cohesion.
所以当它们使用这种标志性口哨时，它们是在向周围的人宣传他们的身份，以此来保持群体凝聚力。
Hopkin: So Chereskin set out to determine which dolphins were getting physical…and which were more or less phoning it in.
所以切尔斯金开始着手确定哪些海豚身体状况不佳……哪些海豚或多或少会打电话给它。
Chereskin: The results were surprising. I had anticipated that the way dolphins use their signature whistles would be akin to the way that primates do.
结果令人惊讶，我原以为海豚使用它们口哨的方式会类似于灵长类动物的方式。
Hopkin: For apes and monkeys, chit chat is more common between besties. But for dolphins?
对于猩猩和猴子来说，好友之间的闲聊更为常见。但是对于海豚呢?
Chereskin: …when we look at just that core alliance group, we see that increased vocal exchanges occur between those with weaker social bonds. So while we do observe that vocal exchanges are indeed occurring between friends, rather than strangers, they’re occurring between distant friends rather than best friends.
……当我们只看核心联盟集团时，我们发现，社会关系较弱的人之间的声音交流有所增加。因此，虽然我们确实观察到，在朋友之间，而非陌生人之间，确实发生了声音交流，但它们是发生在和远方的朋友之间，而不是最好的朋友之间。
Hopkin: Like Alley Cats Spirit and Guppy. Which Chereskin says kinda makes sense.
就像这两只海豚，切尔斯金说的有点道理。
Chereskin: I liken these results to living with a partner. So when you live with someone, you typically don’t have to call or text them as much because much of your bonding occurs together in your home.
我把这种结果比作与伴侣一起生活。所以当你和某人住在一起时，你通常不必给他们打电话或发短信，因为你们的大部分联系都是在家里发生的。
Hopkin: But for friends who are more far flung, you might be more apt to send a shout out…rather than making the effort to get together to bump fists…or fins.
但对于距离较远的朋友，你可能更倾向于发出一声喊叫……而不是聚在一起碰拳头……或鳍。
For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.
以上是《科学美国人》的60秒科学，我是凯伦·霍普金。
Karen Hopkin: This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin.
It’s great to have friends. Especially if you’re an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin. Because new research shows that the males who are the most popular with the lads are also the most successful with the ladies. Researchers describe how these affable marine mammals maintain and leverage their complex social connections in a pair of papers in the journal Current Biology.
Stephanie King: Male dolphins form lifelong cooperative relationships.
Hopkin: Stephanie King of the University of Bristol. She’s been studying the dolphin population that inhabits Shark Bay…a UNESCO World Heritage site off the coast of western Australia.
King: By studying populations like the Shark Bay dolphins for many years, we start to see the complex ways they maintain their important social relationships.
Hopkin: These connections are more than casual acquaintanceships. They’re crucial for the dolphins to be able to fend off rivals and secure mates.
King: When navigating their social world, it is those males that are more adept at building strong friendships that are ultimately more successful.
Hopkin: So what do these aquatic alliances look like?
Livia Gerber: In Shark Bay, every male is embedded in a social network consisting of 4 to 14 males.
Hopkin: Livia Gerber of the University of New South Wales, Sydney.
Gerber: These 4 to 14 males are also known as second order alliances and they are the core social unit of the male bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay.
Hopkin: This dolphin party consists of unrelated individuals of a similar age that remain together for decades. Now, when one of these dolphins is looking for love, he’ll select one or two wingmen…or maybe fin-pals?... from this larger posse to help him find a fertile female.
Gerber: While it was previously known that males have to cooperate in order to sire offspring in Shark Bay, it wasn’t known which male is the most successful one.
Hopkin: Is it the male with the most experience? The one with the largest territory? Or is there something about the bromance that holds the key to reproductive success?
Gerber: To answer this question, I [therefore] looked at the genetic profiles of more than 400 dolphins in Shark Bay and carried out paternity tests.
Hopkin: Once she identified the daddies, she could determine what quality they shared.
Gerber: I was quite surprised by my results because they were contrasting to so many other species, where the oldest males sire the most offspring or the males with the largest territories. As opposed to what we see in these other species, male bottlenose dolphins that have the strongest social bonds and multiple strong social bonds—so the most popular males—sire the most offspring.
Hopkin: Gerber says that the males with more friends are likely more often invited to cruise for females…giving them more opportunities for cooperative canoodling. Ok, so dolphins do better on group dates. But how do they establish and maintain these critical friendships?
King: Through physical contact much like hugging or holding hands in humans.
Hopkin: Or like grooming in other primates, like chimps or monkeys…
Emma Chereskin: …where individuals will devote a lot of time and energy into grooming their closest friends to strengthen those relationships.
Hopkin: Emma Chereskin of the University of Bristol. She says the problem with all this physical interaction is…there’s only so many hours in a day.
Chereskin: When group sizes become larger, this places a constraint on how much time is available for an individual to devote to grooming key social partners.
Hopkin: Enter the “social bonding hypothesis.”
Chereskin: In this hypothesis, vocal exchanges can serve as a replacement for grooming to maintain social bonds.
King: Like us chatting regularly with our circle of friends.
Hopkin: For dolphins, those chats take the form of exchanging “signature whistles.”
Chereskin: A signature whistle is a vocalization that is completely unique to each dolphin that functions much like a human name.
Hopkin: That was Kooks…a member of the Alley Cat alliance.
Hopkin: And that’s his pal Pimento.
Chereskin: So when they use their signature whistle they’re advertising their identity to those around them as a way to maintain group cohesion.
Hopkin: So Chereskin set out to determine which dolphins were getting physical…and which were more or less phoning it in.
Chereskin: The results were surprising. I had anticipated that the way dolphins use their signature whistles would be akin to the way that primates do.
Hopkin: For apes and monkeys, chit chat is more common between besties. But for dolphins?
Chereskin: …when we look at just that core alliance group, we see that increased vocal exchanges occur between those with weaker social bonds. So while we do observe that vocal exchanges are indeed occurring between friends, rather than strangers, they’re occurring between distant friends rather than best friends.
Hopkin: Like Alley Cats Spirit and Guppy. Which Chereskin says kinda makes sense.
Chereskin: I liken these results to living with a partner. So when you live with someone, you typically don’t have to call or text them as much because much of your bonding occurs together in your home.
Hopkin: But for friends who are more far flung, you might be more apt to send a shout out…rather than making the effort to get together to bump fists…or fins.
For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.
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