Abstract:
Quantitative analyses of sounds based on spectral and statistical analyses have been used to compare Tursiops truncatus (bottlenosed dolphin) whistles. Groups and populations of T. truncatus have been quantitatively discriminated using a set of ten variables measured from a large sample (more than 500 for each group) of whistle contours [Wang et al., Aquat. Mamm. 21, 65--77 (1995)]. In the present work, T. truncatus whistle recordings from the Gulf of Mexico animals have been spectrally and statistically analyzed to discriminate between individuals and regional groups. A 13 variable set of measurements (beginning frequency, ending frequency, minimum frequency, maximum frequency, peak frequency, duration, peak time, number of inflection points, beginning sweep, ending sweep, number of contour breaks, type of signal, and number of steps) and a smaller sample size were used. [Work supported by UNAM and TAMU.]