Rough-toothed Dolphin

Rough-toothed dolphins demonstrate cultural transmission of cooperative hunting techniques that parallel orca coordinated attacks. Groups herd large fish like mahimahi using coordinated movements, with individuals taking specific roles that they appear to learn from experienced pod members. The hunting choreography requires precise timing and positioning that suggests explicit cultural transmission rather than instinctive coordination.

Unusually for dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins readily cooperate with humans in fishing operations, apparently extending their cooperative hunting culture to include a different species as hunting partner. This suggests their cultural flexibility extends beyond conspecific cooperation—they can recognize and incorporate novel cooperative opportunities.

The business parallel is organizational cultures that extend to include partners. Rough-toothed dolphins are like companies with strong internal cultures that successfully extend those cultures to include suppliers, customers, and even competitors in joint ventures. Their cooperative hunting with humans shows that cultural practices don't have to stay within organizational boundaries—they can be templates that work with any partner who learns the choreography. The key is whether the culture is specific to the in-group or generalizable to any cooperator.