Imitation of novel intransitive body actions in a Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas): A “Do as Other Does” Study
Open accessAbstract
Cetaceans are well known for their unique behavioral habits, such as calls and tactics. The possibility that these are acquired through social learning continues to be explored. This study investigates the ability of a young beluga whale to imitate novel behaviors. Using a do-as-other-does paradigm, the subject observed the performance of a conspecific demonstrator involving familiar and novel behaviors. The subject: (1) learned a specific 'copy' command; (2) copied 100% of the demonstrator's familiar behaviors and accurately reproduced two out of three novel actions; (3) achieved full matches on the first trial for a subset of familiar behaviors; and (4) demonstrated proficiency in coping with each familiar behavior as well as the two novel behaviors. This study provides the first experimental evidence of a beluga whale's ability to imitate novel intransitive (non-object-oriented) body movements on command. These results contribute to our understanding of the remarkable ability of cetaceans, including dolphins, orcas, and now beluga whales, to engage in multimodal imitation involving sounds and movements. This ability, rarely documented in non-human animals, has significant implications for the development of survival strategies, such as the acquisition of knowledge about natal philopatry, migration routes, and traditional feeding areas, among these marine mammals.
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Belugas have the capacity for contextual imitation of intransitive and novel body actions.
“They have also demonstrated the ability for behavioral imitation during play [44] and the capacity for contextual imitation of intransitive and novel body actions [45,46].”
From Evidence for mirror self-recognition in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) (2026) · cites this paper as [46]
Belugas show the capacity for both vocal and behavioral imitation.
“This species shows the capacity for both vocal and behavioral imitation.”
From Evidence for mirror self-recognition in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) (2026) · cites this paper as [46]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Evidence for mirror self-recognition in beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas)
Mildener, A., Buchman, D., Ragir, S., & Reiss, D. (2026) · PLOS One · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0348287
“They have also demonstrated the ability for behavioral imitation during play [44] and the capacity for contextual imitation of intransitive and novel body actions [45,46].”
Imitation in non-human animals
Huber, L., Suwandschieff, E., & Mackie, L. W. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-29068-8.00147-1
- Authors
- Zamorano-Abramson, J., & Hernández-Lloreda, M. V.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Grupo UCM de Psicobiología Social, Evolutiva y Comparada, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28223 Madrid, Spain
- Corresponding author
- Zamorano-Abramson, José
- Venue
- Animals
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-12-06
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 24
- Pages
- 3763
- ISSN
- 2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10740556
- OpenAlex
- W4389398660
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 0.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo ANID Fondecyt Iniciación Folio (11201224)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- beluga whale, imitation, social learning, novel behavior, cetacean cognition
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