Behavioral Ecology of Prairie Dogs

University Of Maryland Center For Environmental Sciences, Cambridge MD

Investigators

Abstract

TITLE: BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY OF PRAIRIE DOGS PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: JOHN L. HOOGLAND Utah prairie dogs are colonial, burrowing rodents that are in acute danger of extinction. Research on their ecology and social behavior at Bryce Canyon National Park will help conservation biologists to formulate a recovery plan for these rare animals. Biologists argue about the details, but they all agree that individuals should avoid extreme inbreeding. Utah prairie dogs, however, commonly mate with close kin such as parents, siblings and offspring. Long-term research will examine the reproductive success of individuals that engage in extreme inbreeding. Although infanticide is ubiquitous among animals, the frequency is usually low and the victims are usually genetically unrelated to killers. For Utah prairie dogs, however, infanticide affects 27% of litters. Further, males frequently kill the offspring of females with whom they copulated. Research will investigate reasons for these unusual features of infanticide among Utah prairie dogs. DNA- fingerprints indicate a startling result for Utah prairie dogs: females commonly rear the offspring of other females. Research will investigate whether mothers that rear foster offspring increase the safety of their own offspring from both infanticide and predation.