Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications
Lateralization, or a left-right bias in behavior (e.g., handedness), was originally thought to exclusively exist in humans, but is now known to be widespread. Lateralization can exist at the individual or group level. In dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), tests of paw preference have produced inconsiste...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:44816ffa56884778b30808273620f30b 2023-05-15T15:50:07+02:00 Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications Shannon M. Barber-Meyer 2022-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.01.06.2022 https://doaj.org/article/44816ffa56884778b30808273620f30b EN eng Animal Behavior and Cognition https://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/article.php?id=1304 https://doaj.org/toc/2372-5052 https://doaj.org/toc/2372-4323 doi:10.26451/abc.09.01.06.2022 2372-5052 2372-4323 https://doaj.org/article/44816ffa56884778b30808273620f30b Animal Behavior and Cognition, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 72-79 (2022) canis lupus foot-hold trapping gray wolves handedness laterality paw preference pawedness Zoology QL1-991 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.01.06.2022 2022-12-31T00:53:22Z Lateralization, or a left-right bias in behavior (e.g., handedness), was originally thought to exclusively exist in humans, but is now known to be widespread. Lateralization can exist at the individual or group level. In dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), tests of paw preference have produced inconsistent results. Because wolves (C. l.) differ genetically, morphologically, and behaviorally from dogs, I was interested in assessing them for lateralization. I examined lateralization (right versus left) of the foot captured (a step test analog) of wild wolves (n = 93) trapped for radiocollaring purposes in the Superior National Forest, Minnesota from 2011 – 2017 and 2019. No support was found for lateralization, and sex and age class were not significant predictors of which foot was captured. Because many mammals demonstrate lateralization, and because population-level lateralization is thought to convey increased social cohesion, it is surprising that wild wolves did not demonstrate population level lateralization. This step test analog may not have been an appropriate measure (as lateralization is task dependent) and / or wolf lateralization may exist at the individual level, but not the population level. Future work on wolf lateralization at both the individual and population levels examining pawedness via multiple tasks while accounting for potential confounding factors (such as different rearing conditions and methods) could provide clarification. Examining potential trade-offs between the costs and benefits of lateralization that these highly social animals may incur would be very interesting in terms of evolution and in comparison with dogs. Furthermore, because lateralization has been connected to emotional functioning and animal welfare, baseline lateralization data from wild wolves may inform captive wolf management and conservation, including the captive breeding programs for endangered Mexican wolves (C. l. baileyi) and red wolves (C. rufus) and other programs (e.g., educational facilities). Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Animal Behavior and Cognition 9 1 72 79 |
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English |
topic |
canis lupus foot-hold trapping gray wolves handedness laterality paw preference pawedness Zoology QL1-991 |
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canis lupus foot-hold trapping gray wolves handedness laterality paw preference pawedness Zoology QL1-991 Shannon M. Barber-Meyer Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications |
topic_facet |
canis lupus foot-hold trapping gray wolves handedness laterality paw preference pawedness Zoology QL1-991 |
description |
Lateralization, or a left-right bias in behavior (e.g., handedness), was originally thought to exclusively exist in humans, but is now known to be widespread. Lateralization can exist at the individual or group level. In dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), tests of paw preference have produced inconsistent results. Because wolves (C. l.) differ genetically, morphologically, and behaviorally from dogs, I was interested in assessing them for lateralization. I examined lateralization (right versus left) of the foot captured (a step test analog) of wild wolves (n = 93) trapped for radiocollaring purposes in the Superior National Forest, Minnesota from 2011 – 2017 and 2019. No support was found for lateralization, and sex and age class were not significant predictors of which foot was captured. Because many mammals demonstrate lateralization, and because population-level lateralization is thought to convey increased social cohesion, it is surprising that wild wolves did not demonstrate population level lateralization. This step test analog may not have been an appropriate measure (as lateralization is task dependent) and / or wolf lateralization may exist at the individual level, but not the population level. Future work on wolf lateralization at both the individual and population levels examining pawedness via multiple tasks while accounting for potential confounding factors (such as different rearing conditions and methods) could provide clarification. Examining potential trade-offs between the costs and benefits of lateralization that these highly social animals may incur would be very interesting in terms of evolution and in comparison with dogs. Furthermore, because lateralization has been connected to emotional functioning and animal welfare, baseline lateralization data from wild wolves may inform captive wolf management and conservation, including the captive breeding programs for endangered Mexican wolves (C. l. baileyi) and red wolves (C. rufus) and other programs (e.g., educational facilities). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Shannon M. Barber-Meyer |
author_facet |
Shannon M. Barber-Meyer |
author_sort |
Shannon M. Barber-Meyer |
title |
Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications |
title_short |
Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications |
title_full |
Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications |
title_fullStr |
Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications |
title_full_unstemmed |
Are wild wolves southpaws? Including potential conservation implications |
title_sort |
are wild wolves southpaws? including potential conservation implications |
publisher |
Animal Behavior and Cognition |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.01.06.2022 https://doaj.org/article/44816ffa56884778b30808273620f30b |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Animal Behavior and Cognition, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 72-79 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/article.php?id=1304 https://doaj.org/toc/2372-5052 https://doaj.org/toc/2372-4323 doi:10.26451/abc.09.01.06.2022 2372-5052 2372-4323 https://doaj.org/article/44816ffa56884778b30808273620f30b |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.01.06.2022 |
container_title |
Animal Behavior and Cognition |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
72 |
op_container_end_page |
79 |
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1766385103043297280 |