Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs.
Current knowledge about social behavior of free-ranging domestic dogs is scarce, and the possibility that they could form stable social groups has been highly debated. We investigated the existence of a social-dominance hierarchy in a free-ranging group of domestic dogs. We quantified the pattern of...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2307069 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq001 |
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ftunivparmairis:oai:air.unipr.it:11381/2307069 2024-04-14T08:10:12+00:00 Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. Cafazzo S. Bonanni R. Natoli E. VALSECCHI, Paola Maria Cafazzo, S. Valsecchi, Paola Maria Bonanni, R. Natoli, E. 2010 http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2307069 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq001 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000277452800003 volume:21 firstpage:443 lastpage:455 numberofpages:13 journal:BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2307069 doi:10.1093/beheco/arq001 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-77951139521 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2010 ftunivparmairis https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq001 2024-03-21T03:26:33Z Current knowledge about social behavior of free-ranging domestic dogs is scarce, and the possibility that they could form stable social groups has been highly debated. We investigated the existence of a social-dominance hierarchy in a free-ranging group of domestic dogs. We quantified the pattern of dyadic exchange of a number of behaviors to examine to what extent each behavior fits a linear rank-order model. We distinguished among agonistic dominance, formal dominance, and competitive ability. The agonistic-dominance hierarchy in the study group shows significant and substantial linearity. As in random assortments of captive wolves, there is a prominent but nonexclusive male agonistic dominance in each age class. The agonistic rank-order correlates positively and significantly with age. Submissive–affiliative behavior fulfills the criteria of formal submission signals; nevertheless, it was not observed among all dogs, and thus, it is not useful to order the dogs in a consistent linear rank. Agonistic-dominance relationships in the dog group remain stable across different competitive contexts and to the behaviors considered. Some individuals gain access to food prevailing over other dogs during competitions. Access to food resources is predicted reasonably well by agonistic rank order: High-ranking individuals have the priority of access. The findings of this research contradict the notion that free-ranging dogs are ‘‘asocial’’ animals and agree with other studies suggesting that long-term social bonds exist within free-ranging dog groups. Key words: age–sex class relationships, Canis lupus familiaris, food competition, influence of competitive context, linear dominance hierarchy. [Behav Ecol] Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Archivio della ricerca dell'Università di Parma (CINECA IRIS) Behavioral Ecology 21 3 443 455 |
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Open Polar |
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Archivio della ricerca dell'Università di Parma (CINECA IRIS) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivparmairis |
language |
English |
description |
Current knowledge about social behavior of free-ranging domestic dogs is scarce, and the possibility that they could form stable social groups has been highly debated. We investigated the existence of a social-dominance hierarchy in a free-ranging group of domestic dogs. We quantified the pattern of dyadic exchange of a number of behaviors to examine to what extent each behavior fits a linear rank-order model. We distinguished among agonistic dominance, formal dominance, and competitive ability. The agonistic-dominance hierarchy in the study group shows significant and substantial linearity. As in random assortments of captive wolves, there is a prominent but nonexclusive male agonistic dominance in each age class. The agonistic rank-order correlates positively and significantly with age. Submissive–affiliative behavior fulfills the criteria of formal submission signals; nevertheless, it was not observed among all dogs, and thus, it is not useful to order the dogs in a consistent linear rank. Agonistic-dominance relationships in the dog group remain stable across different competitive contexts and to the behaviors considered. Some individuals gain access to food prevailing over other dogs during competitions. Access to food resources is predicted reasonably well by agonistic rank order: High-ranking individuals have the priority of access. The findings of this research contradict the notion that free-ranging dogs are ‘‘asocial’’ animals and agree with other studies suggesting that long-term social bonds exist within free-ranging dog groups. Key words: age–sex class relationships, Canis lupus familiaris, food competition, influence of competitive context, linear dominance hierarchy. [Behav Ecol] |
author2 |
Cafazzo, S. Valsecchi, Paola Maria Bonanni, R. Natoli, E. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cafazzo S. Bonanni R. Natoli E. VALSECCHI, Paola Maria |
spellingShingle |
Cafazzo S. Bonanni R. Natoli E. VALSECCHI, Paola Maria Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. |
author_facet |
Cafazzo S. Bonanni R. Natoli E. VALSECCHI, Paola Maria |
author_sort |
Cafazzo S. |
title |
Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. |
title_short |
Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. |
title_full |
Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. |
title_fullStr |
Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. |
title_sort |
dominance in relation to age, sex and competitive contexts in a group of free-ranging domestic dogs. |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2307069 https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq001 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000277452800003 volume:21 firstpage:443 lastpage:455 numberofpages:13 journal:BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2307069 doi:10.1093/beheco/arq001 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-77951139521 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq001 |
container_title |
Behavioral Ecology |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
443 |
op_container_end_page |
455 |
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1796307711726452736 |