About this Environmental Science article
Patterns of coalition formation and spatial association in a social carnivore, the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) by Marienne S. de Villiers; Philip R. K. Richardson; Albert S. van Jaarsveld is a Environmental Science article available to read on EtoBox.
In many social species, relationships within groups seem to be non‐random but related to variables such as rank, kinship or sexual attractiveness. The endangered African wild dog __Lycaon pictus__ is a social carnivore that lives in large, stable packs, and intra‐pack associations might be expected to display similar patterns. We investigated patterns of coalition formation (support during dominance interactions, and partnership interactions) and resting associations between members of a captive pack of 19 wild dogs. The social organization of the captive pack was similar to that of free‐ranging packs in many respects. Polyadic (group) incidents of coalition support were also observed in a free‐ranging pack. Patterns of coalition formation in the captive pack were related to rank. Most aggressive interactions involved high‐ranking individuals (particularly the alpha, beta and third‐ranking males) and coalitionary support tended to reinforce the existing hierarchy. However, there was at least one example of support influencing a successful rank challenge. Support was affected by potential risks and benefits, the latter including dominance through association and revolutionary allian
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- Author
- Marienne S. de Villiers; Philip R. K. Richardson; Albert S. van Jaarsveld
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons; Wiley (Blackwell Publishing); Wiley-Blackwell; Wiley (ISSN 0952-8369)
- Published
- 2003
- Language
- EN
- Field
- Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)