Data from: Multi-network-based diffusion analysis reveals vertical cultural transmission of sponge tool use within dolphin matrilines

Behavioural differences among social groups can arise from differing ecological conditions, genetic predispositions and/or social learning. In the past, social learning has typically been inferred as responsible for the spread of behaviour by the exclusion of ecological and genetic factors. This 'method of exclusion' was used to infer that 'sponging', a foraging behaviour involving tool use in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) population in Shark Bay, Western Australia, was socially transmitted. However, previous studies were limited in that they never fully accounted for alternative factors, and that social learning, ecology and genetics are not mutually exclusive in causing behavioural variation. Here, we quantified the importance of social learning on the diffusion of sponging, for the first time explicitly accounting for ecological and genetic factors, using a multi-network version of 'network-based diffusion analysis' (NBDA). Our results provide compelling support for previous findings that sponging is vertically socially transmitted from mother to (primarily female) offspring. This research illustrates the utility of social network analysis in elucidating the explanatory mechanisms behind the transmission of behaviour in wild animal populations.GPS locations of bottlenose dolphinsFile contains GPS locations of individual sightings of bottlenose dolphins in the western gulf of Shark Bay (Western Australia) between 2007 and 2018 (WGS84).GPS locations.csvAssociation networkMatrix with association strength (simple ratio association index) among bottlenose dolphins in the western gulf of Shark Bay between 2007-2018. All mother-offspring association were set to 0.social_horizontal.csvGenetic relatedness networkMatrix containing dyadic genetic relatedness (TrioML) based on 27 microsatellite markers in the bottlenose dolphin population in the western gulf of Shark Bay using biopsy samples collected between 2007 and 2018. Relatedness for dyads with no genetic information were set to population average of 0.043.relatedness.csvHome range overlaps (dolphins)Matrix containing 95% dyadic home range overlap (utilization distribution overlap index) of bottlenose dolphins in the western gulf of Shark Bay based on GPS locations of individual sightings between 2007 and 2018. Home ranges were based on kernel densities with a customized smoothing factor.HR_overlaps.csvLand contours - western Gulf of Shark Bay (Australia)shape file containing land contours in the western gulf of Shark Bay in Western Australia (UTM zone 49S)water_area_shapefile .zipIndividual-level variables (bottlenose dolphins)File containing individual-level variables on bottlenose dolphins in the western gulf of Shark Bay (2007-2018) for input in network-based diffusion analysis. Includes: sex (0.5 for males, 0 for unknown, -0.5 for females), number of sightings, mitochondrial haplotype, average water depth (in m), average group size, data on sponging status and if weaned.ILVs.csvMother offspring matrixMatrix containing entries of 1 between all known mother-offspring pairs in the bottlenose dolphins population in the western gulf of Shark Bay (Western Australia) between 2007 and 2018.social_vertical.cs