1. The short‐beaked common dolphin is a highly vocal species, with a wide distribution in all oceans, including the Mediterranean and the Black Seas. In the Mediterranean Sea, the short‐beaked common dolphin inhabits both pelagic and neritic waters.
2. Osteological collections and the literature show that short‐beaked common dolphins were widespread and abundant in much of the Mediterranean Sea until the late 1960s. During recent decades the species has declined in the whole basin, and, in 2003, it was listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List.
3. Genetic studies strongly suggest that the Mediterranean and the Eastern North Atlantic populations are isolated from each other. Genetic differentiation within the Mediterranean Sea, between the Eastern Mediterranean (Ionian Sea) and Western Mediterranean populations, is also reported.
4. The aim of this study was to investigate the geographical variation in the characteristics of whistles of free‐ranging short‐beaked common dolphins living in the Mediterranean Sea, and to evaluate if whistle acoustic structure is the result of adaptation to local environment characteristics or of a possible genetic diversification.
5. Recordings were collected from 1994 to 2012 throughout the basin, employing multiple platforms. Twenty‐six independent acoustic detections were made, and 704 whistles were extracted and considered for statistical analysis.
6. Whistle analysis enabled the identification of distinct geographical units of short‐beaked common dolphin within the Mediterranean Sea. Genetic isolation is probably the major cause of the geographic variance of the Mediterranean short‐beaked common dolphin whistle structure, which may reflect some evolutionary adaptations to particular ecological conditions or may be the by‐product of morphological evolution.
7. The results of the present study show that intra‐Mediterranean variability of whistle structure reflects the path of genetic studies, highlighting the possible use of acoustic data in combination with other sources of data (genetic, morphological, etc.) to identify geographic areas where discrete management units occur.

中文翻译：

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地中海短喙普通海豚的口哨变异性

1. 短喙普通海豚是一种高度发声的物种，在包括地中海和黑海在内的所有海洋中广泛分布。在地中海，短喙普通海豚栖息在中上层和下层水域。
2. 骨科学文献和文献表明，直到1960年代后期，短喙普通海豚在地中海大部分地区都分布广泛且丰富。在最近的几十年中，该物种在整个盆地中都在减少，并且在2003年被IUCN红色名录中列为濒危物种。
3. 遗传研究强烈表明，地中海和北大西洋东部的人群是相互隔离的。还报道了地中海内部（东地中海（爱奥尼亚海）和西地中海人口之间）的遗传分化。
4. 这项研究的目的是调查生活在地中海的自由散养的短喙普通海豚的口哨特征的地理差异，并评估口哨的声学结构是否是适应当地环境特征的结果或可能的遗传多样性。
5. 从1994年到2012年，整个流域采用多个平台收集了记录。进行了26次独立声学检测，提取了704个口哨，并考虑进行统计分析。
6. 通过吹口哨分析，可以识别地中海中短喙普通海豚的不同地理单位。遗传隔离可能是地中海短喙普通海豚口哨结构地理差异的主要原因，这可能反映了对特定生态条件的某些进化适应，或者可能是形态进化的副产品。
7. 本研究的结果表明，地中海内部的哨声结构变异反映了遗传研究的路径，强调了可能结合使用声学数据和其他数据源（遗传，形态等）来识别离散的地理区域管理单位发生。