Back when I was in high school and college, I learned that one of the major things that separated humans from other species was culture. The ability to develop distinct ways of living that include an understanding of symbols, language, and customs unique to the group was a specifically human trait.

And, ok, so it turned out that other species had more complex communication systems than we thought they did, but still, other animals were assumed to behave according to instinct, not community-specific cultures.

But as with so many things humans have been convinced we alone possess and that clearly divide us from other species, it’s turning out that other species have cultures too. One of the clearest examples is the division of orcas into two groups with distinct customs and eating habits; one eats mammals while the other shows no interest in doing so. Though the two groups regularly come in contact with each other in the wild, they do not choose to intermingle or mate with one another. Here’s a video:

A group of dolphins living near Florida has come up with a never-before-seen method of hunting that is, I think, entirely brilliant:

It also turns out that other sea mammals can engage in more complex thinking and logic than we previously recognized:

Aside from the obvious implications for our understanding of culture, this brings up an issue in terms of conservation. Take the case of orcas, which some groups have suggested should be on the endangered species list because the population has declined. The U.S. government has not done so thus far. What do we do if it turns out at some point that while the overall orca population is not fully endangered, one of the distinct orca cultural groups is? Is it enough that killer whales still exist, or do we need to think of the cultures separately and try to preserve sufficient numbers of each? Should conservation efforts address not just keeping the overall population alive and functioning, but ensure that the range of cultural diversity within a species is protected? If this situation occurred, should we declare one orca culture as endangered but not the other?

It certainly brings more complexity to the idea of wildlife preservation if we acknowledge that a species can have distinct cultures, and groups of the same species aren’t interchangeable in their effects on food chains and ecosystems.