matriline
MAT-ruh-line
Definition
A line of descent or ancestral connection traced through female ancestors.
Etymology
Derived from the Latin 'mater' (mother) and 'linea' (line or string). It entered English in the 20th century to describe kinship systems based on descent from a female ancestor.
In the news
In the article, it is used to describe how the sponging behavior is inherited through the female side of a dolphin family. This confirms that the skill is passed down exclusively from mother to offspring within specific maternal lineages.
Dolphins off Western Australia carry sea sponges on their beaks while foraging along the ocean floor — a rare tool-use behaviour passed mainly from mothers to daughters, making it one of the few animal cultures shaped so strongly by gender
Read the full article ↗ScienceBlog.com