Data from: Kinship influences sperm whale social organization within, but generally not among, social units

Sperm whales have a multi-level social structure based upon long-term,
cooperative social units. What role kinship plays in structuring this
society is poorly understood. We combined extensive association data (518
days, during 2005-2016) and genetic data (18 microsatellites and 346bp
mtDNA control region sequences) for 65 individuals from 12 social units
from the Eastern Caribbean to examine patterns of kinship and social
behaviour. Social units were clearly matrilineally-based, evidenced by
greater relatedness within social units (mean r=0.14) than between them
(mean r=0.00) and uniform mtDNA haplotypes within social units.
Additionally, most individuals (82.5%) had a first-degree relative in
their social unit, while we found no first-degree relatives between social
units. Generally and within social units, individuals associated more with
their closer relatives(matrix correlations: 0.18-0.25). However, excepting
a highly-related pair of social units that merged over the study period,
associations between social units were not correlated with kinship
(p>0.1). These results are the first to robustly demonstrate
kinship’s contribution to social unit composition and association
preferences, though they also reveal variability in association
preferences that is unexplained by kinship. Comparisons with other
matrilineal species highlight the range of possible matrilineal societies,
and how they can vary between and even within species.