Social interactions in a solitary carnivore  

作　　者：L. Mark ELBROCH Howard QUIGLEY 

机构地区：[1]Panthera, 8 West 40th Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA

出　　处：《Current Zoology》2017年第4期357-362,共6页动物学报（英文版）

摘　　要：In total, 177 of 245 terrestrial carnivores are described as solitary, and much of carnivore ecology is built on the assumptions that interactions between adult solitary carnivores are rare. We employed Global Positioning System （GPS） technology and motion-triggered cameras to test predictions of land-tenure territoriality and the resource dispersion hypothesis in a territorial carnivore, the puma Puma concolor. We documented 89 independent GPS interactions, 60% of which occurred at puma kills （n=53）, 59 camera interactions, 11 （17%） of which captured courtship behaviors, and 5 other interactions （1 F-F, 3 M-F, and 1 M-M）. Mean minimum weekly contact rates were 5.5 times higher in winter, the season when elk Cervus elaphus were aggregated at lower elevations and during which puma courtship primarily occurred. In winter, contacts rates were 0.6_＋ 0.3 （standard devi- ation （SD）） interactions/week vs. 0.1 _＋ 0.1 （SD） interactions/week during summer. The preponder- ance of interactions at food sources supported the resource dispersion hypothesis, which predicts that resource fluxes can explain temporary social behaviors that do not result in any apparent benefits for the individuals involved. Conspecific tolerance is logical when a prey is so large that the predator that killed it cannot consume it entirely, and thus, the costs of tolerating a conspecific sharing the kill are less than the potential costs associated with defending it and being injured. Puma aggregations at kills numbered as high as 9, emphasizing the need for future research on what explains tolerance among solitary carnivores.

关 键 词：CARNIVORES COMPETITION Puma concolor resource dispersion hypothesis social interactions tolerance. 

分 类 号：P228.4[天文地球—大地测量学与测量工程] Q959.838[天文地球—测绘科学与技术]