Standing-Over in Captive Coywolves, Canis latrans × lycaon

I documented standing-over behavior in a captive Coywolf (Canis latrans × lycaon, Eastern Coyote) pack from April 2002 to October 2003. Standing-over involves an individual positioning its inguinal area over a recumbent (i.e., lying) individual's head. While all five Coywolves in my study pack...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Canadian Field-Naturalist
Main Author: Way, Jonathan G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club 2009
Subjects:
Coywolf
Eastern Coyote
Canis latrans × lycaon
agonistic
aggression
behavior
breeding/dominant female
standing-over
Canis lupus
Online Access:https://www.canadianfieldnaturalist.ca/index.php/cfn/article/view/975
https://doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v123i3.975
Description
Summary:I documented standing-over behavior in a captive Coywolf (Canis latrans × lycaon, Eastern Coyote) pack from April 2002 to October 2003. Standing-over involves an individual positioning its inguinal area over a recumbent (i.e., lying) individual's head. While all five Coywolves in my study pack performed standing-over, the dominant female was responsible for the vast majority. Thus, standing-over appears to be primarily female-oriented, as has previously been reported for Wolves, Canis lupus, and may involve two functions: (1) to advertise the reproductive state of the animal doing the standing-over and (2) to assert dominance via a low-intensity agonistic interaction.

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