Young male dolphins use 'wingmen' to help them with the art of seduction.
Male bottlenose dolphins use 'wingmen' when it comes to romance
Experts have found that juvenile male bottlenose dolphins "practice adult-like reproductive behaviours when playing together" and are more likely to "father more offspring" when they grow up if they spend more time playing with their fellow youngsters.
The scientists found alliances among two or three male dolphins which later expanded to up to 14 members. They helped each other to find females to both herd and mate with - which often involved stealing female dolphins from other alliances and fending off attacks from rivals.
Dr. Katy Holmes, who led the research for the University of Western Australia, said: "We found that juvenile play involves immature versions of adult reproductive behaviours that are crucial for males to access and mate with oestrous females, and the time spent doing these play behaviours predicts how many offspring males eventually sire as adults.
"Our work is exciting because historically it has been notoriously difficult to link play behaviour to reproductive success, in this case the number of sired offspring, in wild animals."