Feral asses of volcano alcedo galapagos: behavioral ecology, spatial disribution and ocial organization

Feral asses were studied on Volcano Alcédo, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, during the wet season of 1980. On the volcano rim during March/April, two stable groups were observed to have a `female (harem) defense’ polygynous mating system [Emlen, S.T., Oring, S.W., 1977. Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197 (4300), pp. 215–223] […]

The effects of sex, age and commensal way of life on levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites in spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus)

We studied levels of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM) in a social rodent — Egyptian spiny mouse. As breeding adults are socially dominant over subadults, and adolescent males are driven away by the dominant males, we addressed the question whether animals within extended families are stressed differently depending upon their social category. In addition, we evaluated […]

Complex cooperative breeders: Using infant care costs to explain variability in callitrichine social and reproductive behavior

The influence of ecology on social behavior and mating strategies is one of the central questions in behavioral ecology and primatology. Callitrichines are New World primates that exhibit high behavioral variability, which is widely acknowledged, but not always systematically researched. Here, I examine the hypothesis that differences in the cost of infant care among genera […]