Cultural hitchhiking: How social behavior can affect genetic makeup in dolphins

Researchers studying bottlenose dolphins that use sponges as tools to protect their sensitive beaks has shown that social behavior can shape the genetic makeup of an animal population in the wild. The research on dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia is one of the first studies to show this effect -- which is called cultural hitchhiking -- in animals other than people.

by via Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily