Seminar: How and why some dolphins use tools

Event Details

Date:

Monday, 23 July 2012

Time:

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Room:

201

UQ Location:

McElwain Building (St Lucia)

URL:

http://www.psy.uq.edu.au/activity/events.html?eid=429

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Janet Mann, a Professor of Biology and Psychology at Georgetown University in the U.S.A., has studied the Shark Bay bottlenose dolphins for 25 years with a focus on females, their calves and their varied hunting tactics.

She has tracked the tool-using ‘sponger’ dolphins from birth to old age and with her team, has discovered why some of the dolphins develop this odd hunting technique which qualifies as the only well documented case of tool use in any wild dolphin or whale.

She will discuss the ontogeny of tool-use, what dolphins are doing with sponges, why some males don’t use sponges and whether sponging can be considered a cultural behaviour.

Attendance is free. Please RSVP by 16 July to psychalum@psy.uq.edu.au.