From Nick Frost and Simon Pegg to Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, a solid bromance is often the foundation for lasting success.
But it’s not just celebrities who benefit from a buddy, as scientists have discovered that bottlenose dolphins who build better social bonds have more offspring.
Researchers from the University of Bristol and the University of Western Australia studied young male dolphins in Australia’s Shark Bay over a 32-year period.
They found that dolphins may use play to develop the social networks and skills they need to be successful later in life.
Lead author Dr Kathryn Holmes from the University of Western Australia told MailOnline: ‘Links between play and reproductive success in wildlife populations are exceptionally rare, so we are very pleased to have evidence of this in dolphins.’
Researchers have found that dolphins who build better bromances as juveniles will be more reproductively successful as adults
Like celebrities like Ryan Reynolds (left) and Hugh Jackman (right), a good friendship between dolphins can form the basis for a collaboration that can last for years.
About twenty years ago, scientists noticed that the games of young dolphins bore a remarkable similarity to the mating behavior of adults.
As adults, alliances of males will drive a lonely female away from others and defend her from the advances of other males.
However, researchers also observed groups of males and females seemingly taking turns playing the roles of male and female adult dolphins.
Dr. Holmes explains: ‘As in adult mating, the males make contact with the genitals of the females with their beak or genitals.’
The similarity between the behaviors was so striking that researchers suggested it could be a form of practice for adult social behavior.
As they played, both male and female dolphins played both roles, suggesting this could be an opportunity for both sexes to learn important behaviors.
Much like the famous bromance between Nick Frost (right) and Simon Pegg (left), dolphins form their friendships while they are young and continue to work together throughout their lives.
In addition, the young dolphins also appeared to practice a “come hither” vocalization called “pops,” which adult males use to keep females close to them.
Young men were much more likely to use these vocalizations when a woman was present in the group.
Dr. Holmes adds: ‘Young male pops are more erratic in structure than adult male pops, which have a regular rhythm, indicating that they need practice to achieve the adult rhythm.’
Although there was a clear similarity between the behavior of young people and adults, proving that there was a beneficial link between the two proved challenging.
‘Men in our research population live well into their forties and undergo a youth period of up to ten years. So you need decades of data on individual men to study the long-term benefits of youth play,” says Dr. King.
Researchers have observed young dolphins exhibiting behavior (pictured) remarkably similar to the mating behavior of adults, in which males drive a lone female away from rivals.
But by analyzing genetic and behavioral data collected over a period of 32 years, researchers have now found that play in young people is an important predictor of reproductive success.
They found that dolphins who developed stronger bonds and spent more time playing in the ‘masculine’ roles had more offspring as adults.
This suggests that play may be crucial for developing the skills and bonds dolphins need to be successful later in life.
One reason play can be so important is because of the complex levels of coordination required for mating.
Dr. Holmes says, “Adult male dolphins form lifelong friendships, repeatedly working together in alliances to find mates and competing for them against rival alliances.”
To complicate matters further, these small groups are themselves part of larger ‘second-order’ alliances of up to fourteen men who work together to steal partners and defend themselves against rivals.
Male and female dolphins appeared to take turns playing the ‘male’ or ‘female’ role, suggesting they could be practicing important reproductive skills
Male dolphins form lifelong friendships and work together to find mates for each other. The researchers found that by playing more as juveniles, the dolphins could practice their cooperation more and be more successful as adults.
These alliances are so important to dolphin interactions that they are considered the core unit of dolphin social organization, but they are also extremely unusual.
Dr. Holmes says: ‘The lifelong friendships and alliances of adult males at our study site are unusual for mammals, as the males work together to access a crucial resource they cannot share.
“We found that young men with strong ties, who are likely to form an alliance as adults, are more likely to synchronize their play behavior, suggesting that they practice this skill with their future allies.”
If true, this revelation could help explain why young animals from so many different species all exhibit some type of play behavior.
Senior author Dr Stephanie King, from the University of Bristol, said: ‘Play behavior is widespread in humans and other animals, but the reasons why animals play together have long remained a mystery.
‘This study provides compelling support for the idea that animals in the wild play together to practice behaviors that will be important to them as adults, and that if they practice enough, they will be more successful as adults.’