Male bottlenose dolphins form bonds that help them find mates - just like humans

Forming lifelong relationships was behaviour only previously seen in humans, reports Aisha Rimi

Scientists findings findings support ‘social brain’ theory that primates evolved large brains to manage their unusually complex social systems (Simon Allen)

Male bottlenose dolphins form lifelong bonds that help them find mates - a behaviour previously only seen in humans, researchers have found.

In a study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a team of scientists from the University of Bristol, University of Zurich and University of Massachusetts found that the marine mammals develop the largest multi-level alliance network outside of humans.

The findings support the “social brain” theory that primates evolved large brains to manage their unusually complex social systems. Both humans and dolphins have the largest brains for their body size compared to all other vertebrates.