Data from: Influence of group size on the success of wolves hunting bison ...
An intriguing aspect of social foraging behaviour is that large groups are often no better at capturing prey than are small groups, a pattern that has been attributed to diminished cooperation (i.e., free riding) in large groups. Although this suggests the formation of large groups is unrelated to p...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Dataset |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Dryad
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nf043 https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.nf043 |
| Summary: | An intriguing aspect of social foraging behaviour is that large groups are often no better at capturing prey than are small groups, a pattern that has been attributed to diminished cooperation (i.e., free riding) in large groups. Although this suggests the formation of large groups is unrelated to prey capture, little is known about cooperation in large groups that hunt hard-to-catch prey. Here, we used direct observations of Yellowstone wolves (Canis lupus) hunting their most formidable prey, bison (Bison bison), to test the hypothesis that large groups are more cooperative when hunting difficult prey. We quantified the relationship between capture success and wolf group size, and compared it to previously reported results for Yellowstone wolves hunting elk (Cervus elaphus), a prey that was, on average, 3 times easier to capture than bison. Whereas improvement in elk capture success levelled off at 2–6 wolves, bison capture success levelled off at 9–13 wolves with evidence that it continued to increase ... : Data_MacNultyetalPLOSONECounts of the number of times wolves in different-sized hunting groups attempted and succeeded to attack and capture bison in Yellowstone National Park, 1996-2013. These are the frequency data presented in Figure 2 of the article. ... |
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