In SciComm episode 35, I am joined by Jason Bruck. Jason focuses on the interplay of evolution, cognition and sociality in animals. Specifically, he examines how complex social systems in cetaceans, primates and other vertebrates drive the evolution of complex learning and memory skills. His Ph.D. work with dolphins identified the first example of life-long social recognition in a non-human animal. Dolphins can remember the signature whistles (individualized acoustic labels) of former tank-mates even after 20.5 years of separation. To date, only humans and dolphins have been systematically shown to have this type of memory, but other socially complex species are likely to follow.