BACKGROUND The comparison of human related communication skills of socialized canids may help to understand the evolution and the epigenesis of gesture comprehension in humans. To reconcile previously contradicting views on the origin of dogs' outstanding performance in utilizing human gestures, we suggest that dog-wolf differences should be studied in a more complex way. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPA...

Although considerable progress has been made in understanding the genetic basis of morphologic traits (for example, body size and coat color) in dogs and wolves, the genetic basis of their behavioral divergence is poorly understood. An integrative approach using both behavioral and genetic data is required to understand the molecular underpinnings of the various behavioral characteristics assoc...

We documented sarcoptic mange caused by mites (Sarcoptes scabiei) in 22 gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the northern Rocky Mountain states of Montana (n=16) and Wyoming (n=6), from 2002 through 2008. To our knowledge, this is the first report of sarcoptic mange in wolves in Montana or Wyoming in recent times. In addition to confirming sarcoptic mange, we recorded field observations of 40 wolves in...

0006-3207/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. A http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.09.004 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 704 692 8142. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J.A. Del Proctor), [email protected] (T.D. Steury), makelly2 [email protected] (M.R. Vaughan). Large carnivores, with their expansive home range and resource requirements, are a good model for understanding how animal popu...

Most domestication hypotheses propose that dogs have been selected for enhanced communication and interactions with humans, including learning socially from human demonstrators. However, to what extent these skills are newly derived and to what extent they originate from wolf-wolf interactions is unclear. In order to test for the possible origins of dog social cognition, we need to compare the ...

To test the hypothesis that the domestic dogs are derived from several different ancestral gray wolf populations, we compared the sequence of the displacement (D)-loop region of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 24 breeds of domestic dog (34 individual dogs) and 3 subspecies of gray wolf (Canis lupus lupus, C.l. pallipes and C.l. chanco; 19 individuals). The intraspecific sequence variations w...

In this study, we focused on determining the genetic variability of Turkish gray wolves and also to reveal phylogenetic relationships of the Eurasian wolf populations using mitochondrial DNA sequences. Partial mitochondrial DNA sequences (440 bp) were obtained from 12 Turkish gray wolves, including D-loop region (332 bp). We found seven D-loop haplotypes (332 bp) among the 12 Turkish gray wolve...

As human populations expand, there is increasing demand and pressure for land. Under this scenario, behavioural flexibility and adaptation become important processes leading to the persistence of large carnivores in human-dominated landscapes such as agroecosystems. A growing interest has recently emerged on the outcome of the coexistence between wolves and humans in these systems. It has been ...

By the mid 20th century, the grey wolf (Canis lupus) was exterminated from most of the conterminous United States (cUS) and Mexico. However, because wolves disperse over long distances, extant populations in Canada and Alaska might have retained a substantial proportion of the genetic diversity once found in the cUS. We analysed mitochondrial DNA sequences of 34 pre-extermination wolves and fou...

We asked whether wolf re-colonization would facilitate increased growth and reproduction of three browse-sensitive plant species. We hypothesized plant size and the proportion of reproductive individuals would be lowest in areas with no wolves, intermediate where wolves had been present for 4–6 years, and highest where wolves had been present for 12–13 years. Two plant species exhibited signifi...