Altruism in wolves explains the coevolution of dogs and wolves

Social Play in Coyotes, Wolves, and Dogs

Inhibition training in wolves and dogs.

A theoretical model previously proposed by the first author hypothesizes that dogs (C. familiaris) should perform better than wolves (C. lupus) on training tasks in which (1) cues are arbitrarily selected by the experimenter, (2) reinforcement is administered by the experimenter, and (3) the to-be-learned behavior has no perceptible, functional connection with the reinforcement. To test this hy...

Humanity's Dual Response to Dogs and Wolves.

Dogs were first domesticated 31 000-41 000 years ago. Humanity has experienced ecological costs and benefits from interactions with dogs and wolves. We propose that humans inherited a dual response of attraction or aversion that expresses itself independently to domestic and wild canids. The dual response has had far-reaching consequences for the ecology and evolution of all three taxa, includi...

Difference in quantity discrimination in dogs and wolves

Certain aspects of social life, such as engaging in intergroup conflicts, as well as challenges posed by the physical environment, may facilitate the evolution of quantity discrimination. In lack of excessive comparative data, one can only hypothesize about its evolutionary origins, but human-raised wolves performed well when they had to choose the larger of two sets of 1-4 food items that had ...

The Wolves of Yellowstone

Perhaps no other large predator is more deeply embedded in our psyche than the wolf. Vilified throughout history in both legend and literature, humans had effectively eradicated wolves from Europe by 1850. In the United States, the government declared a war of extermination against gray wolves (Canis lupus) beginning in the early 1800s. Hunters, ranchers, and farmers eagerly enlisted, using let...