Killer whales, also known as orcas (Orcinus orca), have a geographic range stretching from the Antarctic to the Arctic. As a species, their diet includes birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles. But as individuals, they typically fall into groups with highly specialized diets and hunting traditions passed down over generations. Increasingly, scientists refer to these learned feeding strategies as #culture, roughly defined as information that affects behavior and is passed among individuals and across generations through social learning, such as teaching or imitation.
Scientists once placed culture squarely in the human domain. But discoveries in recent decades suggest that a wide range of cultural practices—from foraging tactics and vocal displays to habitat use and play—may influence the lives of other animals as well. Studies attribute additional orca behaviors, such as migration routes and song repertoires, to culture. Other research suggests that a finch’s song, a chimpanzee’s nut cracking, and a guppy’s foraging route are all manifestations of culture. Between 2012 and 2014, over 100 research groups published work on animal culture covering 66 species, according to a recent review.
Now, scientists are exploring whether culture may shape not only the lives of nonhuman animals but the evolution of a species. “Culture affects animals’ lives and their survival and their fitness,” says the review’s coauthor, behavioral scientist Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews in Scotland. “We’ve learned that’s the case to an extent that could hardly have been appreciated half a century ago.” Based on work in whales, dolphins, and birds, some researchers contend that animal culture is likely a common mechanism underlying animal evolution. But testing this hypothesis remains a monumental challenge.
