Download or read book The Social Organization of the Cape Ground Squirrel Xerus Inauris written by Jane Margaret Waterman and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Kinship Ectoparasites and Reproductive Success in Cape Ground Squirrel Xerus Inauris Social Networks written by Philip Shimel and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sociality - or living in groups among members of the same species - can have both costs and benefits for survival and reproductive success. Inclusive fitness theory suggests organisms might behaviourally favour closer kin if they can identify and act to benefit them. In promiscuous social species, average relatedness may be too low to maintain costly social behaviours like cooperative breeding without kin discrimination. Animals that are more central in social networks may gain fitness benefits and costs similar to those of sociality generally, but particularly those effects that arise from indirect social connections. Increased social network centrality is often linked to improved fitness, but also greater ectoparasite abundance. Exploring whether fitness correlates to social network position under low rates of aggression or hierarchy remains a key challenge for comparative evolutionary ecology. Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris) are facultatively cooperative breeders with high promiscuity. They are a social species that rarely exhibit aggressive behaviours towards conspecifics and show no evidence of dominance hierarchies. A previous study that removed their parasites dramatically increased female reproductive success. Our objective was to examine whether kinship influences social structure and whether ectoparasite abundance and centrality influence survival and reproductive success in adult female Cape ground squirrels. We predicted kinship increases affiliative and decreases agonistic interactions, that centrality increases ectoparasites, and that ectoparasites and centrality reduce reproductive success but not survival. We studied Cape ground squirrels on S.A. Lombard Nature Reserve, South Africa in 2017. We followed 14 social groups, collected interaction data through all-occurrence sampling, and collected ectoparasite abundance data from trapping. We found that kinship increased both affiliative and agonistic interactions. Since agonistic interactions are relatively mild in this species, greater agonistic interaction frequencies with closer kin may have insignificant fitness costs. More central adult females had more ectoparasites, but eigenvector centrality and ectoparasite abundance did not affect survival or reproductive success. Our study shows that Cape ground squirrels are nepotistic with their interactions within their social groups, and that the costs and benefits of group living in species with low rates of aggression can have novel implications for the relationships between fitness and sociality.

Download or read book The Ecophysiology of the Cape Ground Squirrel Xerus Inauris Zimmermann written by Antje Klamer Knight and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Intra and Intergroup Patterns of Relatedness and Space Use in the Cooperative and Promiscuous Breeding Cape Ground Squirrel Xerus Inauris written by Rebecca Lem and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Group living is an important life-history tactic for many species and provides several benefits, such as predation protection and cooperative breeding, but can also incur costs. When groups become large, these costs can increase and can be detrimental to the reproductive success of gregarious females. Kin selection is one mechanism that may offset group costs. Hypotheses on the evolution of cooperative breeding predict these groups to be monogamous to maintain high relatedness within their family groups. In the case of promiscuous cooperative breeding species, relatedness may be highly variable both within and among groups, but little is known about if and how kin selection functions in these groups. Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris) are a cooperative breeding species with a promiscuous breeding system. Our objective was to first characterize the importance of kin selection within groups by examining relatedness within Cape ground squirrel family groups if kin bias was important during foraging away from safety, and if kin selection was an important factor when Cape ground squirrel females dispersed from their family group. Secondly, we characterized relatedness patterns among family groups across a landscape and determined if there was a kin bias or benefit to the sharing of spatial resources among family groups. We collected observational data on 15 different squirrel family groups in central South Africa. Results indicate that promiscuity influenced relatedness and group size, and that, over time, relatedness declined for males but not for females in a group. When females left their group, they usually did so with their offspring. When foraging, females did not show a spatial bias towards kin. Across a landscape, relatedness decreased with increasing distance, but we did not find that Cape ground squirrels showed a bias in spatial resources between kin, or that spatial resources contributed to reproductive success or survival of females. Overall, female Cape ground squirrels optimized direct fitness benefits when dispersing from their family groups, and overt kin biases were not apparent during foraging. Our study is important in understanding the evolution of cooperative breeding in a promiscuous species with a unique, tolerant, and non-aggressive social system.

Download or read book Cache Protection and Decision Making in the Cape Ground Squirrel Xerus Inauris written by James Ashley Samson and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Rodent Societies written by Jerry O. Wolff and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 627 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rodent Societies synthesizes and integrates the current state of knowledge about the social behavior of rodents, providing ecological and evolutionary contexts for understanding their societies and highlighting emerging conservation and management strategies to preserve them. It begins with a summary of the evolution, phylogeny, and biogeography of social and nonsocial rodents, providing a historical basis for comparative analyses. Subsequent sections focus on group-living rodents and characterize their reproductive behaviors, life histories and population ecology, genetics, neuroendocrine mechanisms, behavioral development, cognitive processes, communication mechanisms, cooperative and uncooperative behaviors, antipredator strategies, comparative socioecology, diseases, and conservation. Using the highly diverse and well-studied Rodentia as model systems to integrate a variety of research approaches and evolutionary theory into a unifying framework, Rodent Societies will appeal to a wide range of disciplines, both as a compendium of current research and as a stimulus for future collaborative and interdisciplinary investigations.

Download or read book Squirrels of the World written by Richard W. Thorington, Jr. and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2012-08-03 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Squirrels of the World, written by scientists with more than 100 years of collective experience studying these popular mammals, is the first comprehensive examination of all 285 species of squirrels worldwide. The authors reveal virtually every detail of the family Sciuridae, which includes ground squirrels, tree squirrels, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, and chipmunks. Each species—from the familiar gray squirrel of American backyards to the exotic and endangered woolly flying squirrel of Pakistan—is described in a detailed account that includes distinguishing characteristics, ecology, natural history, conservation status, and current threats to its existence. Squirrels of the World includes • stunning color photographs that document rare and unusual squirrels as well as common varieties• evolution, morphology, ecology, and conservation status• colorful range maps marking species distribution• images of the skull of each genus of squirrel• extensive references -- Lawrence Heaney, Curator and Head of the Division of Mammals, The Field Museum (Chicago)

Download or read book Mammals of Africa Volume III written by Jonathan Kingdon and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2014-11-20 with total page 785 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mammals of Africa (MoA) is a series of six volumes which describes, in detail, every currently recognized species of African land mammal. This is the first time that such extensive coverage has ever been attempted, and the volumes incorporate the very latest information and detailed discussion of the morphology, distribution, biology and evolution (including reference to fossil and molecular data) of Africa's mammals. With more than 1,160 species and 16-18 orders, Africa has the greatest diversity and abundance of mammals in the world. The reasons for this and the mechanisms behind their evolution are given special attention in the series. Each volume follows the same format, with detailed profiles of every species and higher taxa. The series includes hundreds of colour illustrations and pencil drawings by Jonathan Kingdon highlighting the morphology and behaviour of the species concerned, as well as line drawings of skulls and jaws by Jonathan Kingdon and Meredith Happold. Every species also includes a detailed distribution map. Edited by Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Tom Butynski, Mike Hoffmann, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina, and written by more than 350 authors, all experts in their fields, Mammals of Africa is as comprehensive a compendium of current knowledge as is possible. Extensive references alert readers to more detailed information. Volume III, edited by David Happold, has profiles of 395 species of rodents, comprising the squirrels, dormice, jerboas, blind mole-rats, African root-rats, pouched rats and mice, Swamp Mouse, climbing mice, fat mice, White-tailed Rat, rock mice, voles, Maned Rat, spiny mice, brush-furred mice, gerbils, jirds, taterils, African Forest Mouse, rats and mice, vlei rats, whistling rats, anomalures, springhares, gundis, African mole-rats, porcupines, Noki (Dassie Rat), cane rats and Coypu. The volume concludes with 13 species of hares and rabbits.

Download or read book Mammals of Africa written by Jonathan Kingdon and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-05-23 with total page 3500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mammals of Africa (MoA) is a series of six volumes which describes, in detail, every currently recognized species of African land mammal. This is the first time that such extensive coverage has ever been attempted, and the volumes incorporate the very latest information and detailed discussion of the morphology, distribution, biology and evolution (including reference to fossil and molecular data) of Africa's mammals. With 1,160 species and 16 orders, Africa has the greatest diversity and abundance of mammals in the world. The reasons for this and the mechanisms behind their evolution are given special attention in the series. Each volume follows the same format, with detailed profiles of every species and higher taxa. The series includes some 660 colour illustrations by Jonathan Kingdon and his many drawings highlight details of morphology and behaviour of the species concerned. Diagrams, schematic details and line drawings of skulls and jaws are by Jonathan Kingdon and Meredith Happold. Every species also includes a detailed distribution map. Extensive references alert readers to more detailed information. Volume I: Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria (352 pages) Volume II: Primates (560 pages) Volume III: Rodents, Hares and Rabbits (784 pages) Volume IV: Hedgehogs, Shrews and Bats (800 pages) Volume V: Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses (560 pages) Volume VI: Pigs, Hippopotamuses, Chevrotain, Giraffes, Deer and Bovids (704 pages)

Download or read book Seasonal Patterns in Body Temperature and Behaviour in Cape Ground Squirrels Xerus Inauris Living in a Semi arid Environment written by Wendy Anne Wilson and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Biology of Small Mammals written by Joseph F. Merritt and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2010-03-09 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Animals of this size face different physiological and ecological challenges than larger mammals.

Download or read book Squirrels written by Richard W. Thorington and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2006-08-28 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description

Download or read book Advances in the Study of Behavior written by and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 1999-02-26 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in the Study of Behavior continues to serve scientists across a wide spectrum of disciplines. Focusing on new theories and research developments with respect to behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, and comparative psychology, these volumes foster cooperation and communication in these diverse fields.

Download or read book Reproductive Delay in Female Cape Ground Squirrels Xerus Inauris written by Beth A. Pettitt and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prior to the start of the field season, I conducted an initial experiment to determine the best alternative form of fecal storage if freezing was unavailable. I found that drying feces provides a more reliable method for long-term preservation of fecal steroid concentrations when compared to storing fecal samples in alcohol. Data associated with each of the seven parameters was analyzed using model selection to simultaneously measure the ability of different combinations of parameters to explain the observed variation in female age of sexual maturity. I found that an increase in the number of adult breeding female group mates and related adult male group mates resulted in a substantial inhibition of female reproductive maturity. I concluded that, while female Cape ground squirrels gain many advantages from group living, their sexual maturity is primarily influenced by a tug-of-war among social parameters, with minimal direct influence by environmental ones.

Download or read book Sociobiology of Caviomorph Rodents written by Luis A. Ebensperger and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-02-24 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fully integrative approach to the socibiology of caviomorph rodents Brings together research on social systems with that on epigenetic, neurendocrine and developmental mechanisms of social behavior Describes the social systems of many previously understudied caviomorph species, identifying the fitness costs and benefits of social living in current day populations as well as quantified evolutionary patterns or trends Highlights potential parallels and differences with other animal models

Download or read book Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates written by Kathreen Ruckstuhl and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-01-05 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Males and females often differ in developmental patterns, adult morphology, ecology and behaviour, and in many mammals males are often larger. Size dimorphism results in divergent nutritional and energetic requirements or reproductive strategies by the sexes, which in turn sometimes causes them to select different forage, use different habitats, and express differing social affinities. Such divergent life-styles often lead males and females to live large parts of their lives separately. Sexual segregation is widespread in animals. Males and females may share the same habitat, but at different times, for example, or they might use different habitats entirely. Why did sexual segregation evolve and what factors contribute to it? Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates explores these questions by looking at a wide range of vertebrates and is aimed as a synthesis of our current understanding and a guide for future research.

Download or read book Rodents of Sub Saharan Africa written by Ara Monadjem and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2015-02-17 with total page 1126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive handbook covers all the rodents occurring in Southern, Central, East and West Africa, south of the Sahara. Genus and species accounts include diagnostic descriptions, systematics and taxonomy, biogeographical environment, fossil species, photographs of skull and mandible, illustrations of molar dentition, photographs of live animals, distribution maps and tables of standard museum measurements.