Dolphinscommunicate by whistling to one a mother across long distances. But this-组卷网

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Dolphins communicate by whistling to one a mother across long distances. But this sea mammal (哺乳动物)communication is more than just chatting. New research suggests that dolphins who have Dolphins are the only other mammals that have the vocalization(发声)skills that are required for language and this could explain why they are able to communicate with one another, reported Science. Every dolphin has its own whistle that they learned from their mothers and that is how they are identified by others.

Researchers studied the bonds that male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins share and found that those who whistle and communicate more have stronger bonds. And this helps them in a very big way. Dolphins with stronger bonds father more calves. The study hypothesized that the whistling, or vocal interactions played an important role in social bonding. In the study, Livia Gerber, a biologist and colleagues, used 30 years of data that was collected about male dolphin behaviour, in Shark Bay off the coast of Western Australia, to identify which ones were the most popular.

The researchers determined by using DNA that the males who had the strongest social bonds with other males actually had the most offspring. That means that shy males stand very little chance in reproducing. The researchers, the Sydney Sun reported, concluded that the well-connected males shared crucial information on food and were potentially able to protect their mates. The research not only discovered this aspect of dolphin society, it also challenged Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory.

“For so long, biologists have always been thinking it’s the strongest male that gets all of the friendship. And now what we’re actually seeing is, it doesn’t need to be the strongest, it can also be the most popular ones, ”Gerber said.

【小题1】Why can dolphins recognize each other?

A．Their whistles are unique.

B．They’ve vocalization skills.

C．They use special languages.

D．Their mothers are strong.

【小题2】What does the underlined word “hypothesized” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Complained.

B．Blessed.

C．Assumed.

D．Accounted.

【小题3】What plays a key role in making dolphins have more offspring?

A．Social bonds.