[MARMAM] New publication on bottlenose dolphin neuroanatomy and asymmetry

[Alexandra Wright]

Dear MARMAM Community,

We are pleased to announce our new publication on bottlenose dolphin white
matter anatomy and asymmetry in *Brain Structure and Function*:

*Wright, A.K., Theilmann, R.J., Ridgway, S.H., Scadeng, M. Diffusion
tractography reveals pervasive asymmetry of cerebral white matter tracts in
the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).* Brain Struct Funct (2017).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-017-1525-9

*Abstract: *Brain enlargement is associated with concomitant growth of
interneuronal distance, increased conduction time, and reduced neuronal
interconnectivity. Recognition of these functional constraints led to the
hypothesis that large-brained mammals should exhibit greater structural and
functional brain lateralization. As a taxon with the largest brains in the
animal kingdom, Cetacea provides a unique opportunity to examine
asymmetries of brain structure and function. In the present study,
diffusion tensor imaging and tractography were used to investigate cerebral
white matter asymmetry in the bottlenose dolphin (*Tursiops truncatus*).
Widespread white matter asymmetries were observed with the preponderance of
tracts exhibiting leftward structural asymmetries. Leftward lateralization
may reflect differential processing and execution of behaviorally variant
sensory and motor functions by the cerebral hemispheres. The arcuate
fasciculus, an association tract linked to human language evolution, was
isolated and exhibited rightward asymmetry suggesting a right hemisphere
bias for conspecific communication unlike that of most mammals. This study
represents the first examination of cetacean white matter asymmetry and
constitutes an important step toward understanding potential drivers of
structural asymmetry and its role in underpinning functional and behavioral
lateralization in cetaceans.

This publication is *open access* and available at the following links:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-017-1525-9 *or* http://rdcu.be/z5fa


Kind regards,

Alexandra

*Alexandra Wright*, PhD
alexandra.k.wri...@vanderbilt.edu
alexandrakwri...@gmail.com

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[MARMAM] U.S. Marine Mammal Commission FY 2018 Funding Opportunity - deadline 11 January 2018

[Dee Allen]

The U.S. Marine Mammal Commission is requesting pre-proposals for our current 
Fiscal Year 2018 funding opportunity.  The focal area for this year is 
"Community-driven conservation approaches to eliminate, manage, or mitigate 
threats to marine mammals".
Marine mammals continue to face an array of threats ranging from fisheries, 
noise, and vessel traffic to environmental change. Conservation action is 
needed to eliminate, manage, or mitigate these threats.  Successful 
conservation programs require not only an understanding of species and 
ecosystems, but also of the needs, values, perceptions, and cultures of the 
relevant human communities. Individuals need to become engaged, informed, and 
inspired to work toward altering human behavior. The Commission believes that 
increased awareness of examples of successful innovative, community-driven 
approaches to conservation will help.
Proposals must include a component to evaluate the effectiveness of measures to 
eliminate, manage, or mitigate threats to marine mammals. Particular 
consideration will be given to proposals that include a social science 
component where it is shown how greater understanding of human interests and 
motivation can inform management and improve the effectiveness of conservation 
efforts. Proposals that are both empirically informed and linked to tangible 
management problems, and solutions, and that concern populations at extreme 
risk, may be given preference.


Pre-proposal deadline: Thursday, January 11th 2018 11:59pm EST

Notification of requests for full proposals: Monday, March 12th 2018

Full proposal submission deadline (invited applicants only): Monday, April 
9th2018

Applicant notification: Monday, July 2nd 2018

More details can be found on the Commission's webpages below:

Current funding opportunities:
https://www.mmc.gov/grants-and-research-survey/current-funding-opportunities/

Proposal requirements:
https://www.mmc.gov/grants-and-research-survey/current-funding-opportunities/proposal-requirements/

For questions or additional information, please contact Samantha Simmons, 
Acting Scientific Program Director (ssimm...@mmc.gov) 
or Dee Allen, Research Program Officer (dal...@mmc.gov).

Dee Allen
Research Program Officer
Marine Mammal Commission
4340 East-West Highway, Suite 700
Bethesda, MD 20814-4498
301-504-0087

Follow us on Twitter: @MarineMammalCom
Visit us online: www.mmc.gov

The Marine Mammal Commission is an independent agency of the U.S. Government.


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[MARMAM] New Publication announcement: Call types of Bigg's killer whales in western Alaska

[Deborah Sharpe]

My co-authors and I are pleased to announce the recent online release of the 
following article in Bioacoustics:

Call types of Bigg’s killer whales (Orcinus orca) in western Alaska: using 
vocal dialects to assess population structure.

Sharpe DL, Castellote M, Wade PR, and Cornick LA



ABSTRACT

Bigg’s killer whales (Orcinus orca; i.e. ‘transient’ ecotype), as apex 
predators, are important to the dynamics of marine ecosystems, but little is 
known about their population structure in western Alaska. Currently, all Bigg’s 
killer whales in western Alaska are ascribed to a single broad stock for 
management under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act. However, recent nuclear 
microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analyses indicate that this stock is 
likely comprised of genetically distinct sub-populations. In accordance with 
what is known about killer whale vocal dialects in other locations, we used the 
spatial distribution of group-specific call types to investigate the population 
structure of Bigg’s killer whales in this part of Alaska. Digital audio 
recordings were collected from 33 Bigg’s killer whale encounters throughout the 
Aleutian and Pribilof Islands in the summers of 2001–2007 and 2009–2010. 
Recorded calls were qualitatively classified into discrete types and then 
quantitatively described using 12 structural and time-frequency measures. 
Resulting call categories were validated using a random forest approach. A 
total of 36 call types and subtypes were identified across the entire study 
area, and regional patterns of call type use revealed three distinct dialects 
which correspond to proposed genetic delineations. Our results suggest that 
there are at least three acoustically and genetically distinct sub-populations 
in western Alaska, and we present an initial catalogue for this area describing 
the regional vocal repertoires of Bigg’s killer whale call types.



For students, professors, and other scientists who are interested in our paper 
and have institutional access to articles, please use the following link: 
https://doi.org/10.1080/09524622.2017.1396562

For interested parties without the ability to circumvent pay-walls, a free copy 
can be obtained by clicking here: 
http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/DwjAi5wHpjqzSFI5Ctzz/full . Please use this 
link only once.

If you are unable to access the full article through either of these channels, 
don’t hesitate to contact me directly: dlynnsha...@hotmail.com

Thank you for your interest,

Deborah L. Sharpe, MSc

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[MARMAM] New paper on The humpback whale caving range along the western Australian coast

[Lyn Irvine]

Dear MARMAM subscribers,



My co-authors and I are pleased to announce early view access to the
publication:

Irvine, Lyn G., Thums, Michele, Hanson, Christine E., McMahon, Clive R.,
Hindell, Mark A. (2017) Evidence for a widely expanded humpback whale
calving range along the Western Australian coast. Marine Mammal Science DOI:
10./mms.12456

 
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10./mms.12456/full





Abstract: The recognized calving grounds of humpback whales (Megaptera
novaeangliae) that breed along the Western Australian coast (Breeding Stock
D) extend along the Kimberley coast between Camden Sound and Broome (15°
-18°S). However, there are reports of neonates further south, suggesting
that the calving areas may be poorly defined. During aerial photogrammetric
research in 2013 and 2015, we sighted large numbers of humpback whale calves
along North West Cape (21°47′-22°43′S). We estimated the minimum
relative calf abundance to be 463-603 in 2013 and 557-725 in 2015. We
categorized the calves as either neonate or post neonate according to their
color and size. The majority of calves sighted in both years (85% in 2013;
94% in 2015) were neonates. Our observations indicate that a minimum of
approximately 20% (17.1%-24.3%) of the expected number of calves of this
population are born near, or south of, North West Cape. We thus demonstrate
that the calving grounds for the Breeding Stock D population extend south
from Camden Sound in the Kimberley (15°S) to at least North West Cape (22°
43′S), 1,000 km southwest of the currently recognized calving area.



If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at
lynette.irv...@utas.edu.au 



Warm regards,

Lyn



Lyn Irvine

PhD Candidate

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS)

University of Tasmania

* Tel +61 (0)8 9949 2298 |* Mob +61 (0)417 383 769| *
 lynette.irv...@utas.edu.au







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