Hill Heather M, Dietrich Sarah, Guarino Sara, Banda Magdalena, Lacy Kristie
Psychology Department, St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas.
State University of Buffalo New York Buffalo, Buffalo, Texas.
Zoo Biol. 2019 Mar;38(2):149-156. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21463. Epub 2018 Dec 19.
Although many animals, including odontocetes, exhibit interactions involving mouths (e.g., mouthing, nuzzling, biting), a limited number of animals display mouth-to-mouth social interactions that involve mutual coordination and collaboration. The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly a spontaneous and unexpected mouth-to-mouth social interaction between beluga calves in human care during their first year of life. Forty-seven independent events were identified after event sampling from more than 345 hr of observations of four mother-calf pairs and their companions. Unique aspects of this behavior included early emergence presumably without the benefit of a model and a preference for similar aged partners. Adult belugas did not display this social interaction. Based on its early emergence, the presence of similar-aged partner preferences, and affiliative cooperative contexts, this unusual mouth-to-mouth social interaction may play a significant role in beluga social and physical development. To evaluate this possibility, additional research is needed in which the complete topography, possible functions, and potential outcomes associated with this rare but conspicuous behavior exhibited by beluga calves are assessed.
尽管包括齿鲸在内的许多动物都表现出涉及嘴巴的互动行为（如用嘴触碰、轻推、撕咬），但只有少数动物会展现出涉及相互协调与合作的嘴对嘴社交互动。本文旨在简要描述圈养环境下白鲸幼崽在出生第一年时自发且意外出现的嘴对嘴社交互动。在对四对母鲸 - 幼鲸及其同伴进行了超过345小时的观察并进行事件抽样后，共识别出47个独立事件。这种行为的独特之处包括可能在没有榜样的情况下早期就出现，以及对年龄相仿伙伴的偏好。成年白鲸并未表现出这种社交互动。基于其早期出现、对年龄相仿伙伴的偏好以及亲密合作的情境，这种不寻常的嘴对嘴社交互动可能在白鲸的社交和身体发育中发挥重要作用。为评估这种可能性，需要开展更多研究，以评估白鲸幼崽所表现出的这种罕见但引人注目的行为的完整表现形式、可能的功能及潜在结果。
