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808 results for “dogs”
Data from: Clever mothers balance time and effort in parental care: a study on free-ranging dogs
Mammalian offspring require parental care, at least in the form of nursing during their early development. While mothers need to invest considerable time and energy in ensuring the survival of their current offspring, they also need to optimize their investment in one batch of offspring in order to ensure future reproduction and hence lifetime reproductive success. Free-ranging dogs live in small social groups, mate promiscuously and lack the cooperative breeding biology of other group-living canids. They face high early-life mortality, which in turn reduces fitness benefits of the mother from a batch of pups. We carried out a field-based study on free-ranging dogs in India to understand the nature of maternal care. Our analysis reveals that mothers reduce investment in energy-intensive active care and increase passive care as the pups grow older, thereby keeping overall levels of care more or less constant over pup age. Using the patterns of mother–pup interactions, we define the different phases of maternal care behaviour.
Data from: Real-time assessment of hybridization between wolves and dogs: combining non-invasive samples with ancestry informative markers
Wolves and dogs provide a paradigmatic example of the ecological and conservation implications of hybridization events between wild and domesticated forms. However, our understanding of such implications has been traditionally hampered by both high genetic similarity and the difficulties in obtaining tissue samples (TS), which limit our ability to assess ongoing hybridization events. To assess the occurrence and extension of hybridization in a pack of wolf-dog hybrids in Northwestern Iberia, we compared the power of 52 nuclear markers implemented on TS with a subset of 13 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) typed in non-invasive samples (NIS). We demonstrate that the 13 AIMs are as accurate as the 52 markers that were chosen without regard to the power to differentiate between wolves and dogs, also having the advantage of being rapidly screened on NIS. The efficiency of AIMs significantly outperformed ten random sets of similar size and an additional commercial set of 18 markers. Bayesian clustering analysis implemented on AIMs and NIS identified nine hybrids, two wolves and two dogs. Four hybrids were unambiguously assigned to F1xWolf backcrosses. Our approach (AIMs + NIS) overcomes previous difficulties related to sample availability and informative power of markers, allowing a quick identification of wolf-dog hybrids in the first phases of hybridization episodes. This provides managers with a reliable tool to evaluate hybridization, and estimate the success of their actions. This approach may be easily adapted for other pairs of wild/domesticated species, thus improving our understanding of the introgression of domestication genes into natural populations.
Data from: Key players and hierarchical organization of prairie dog social networks
The use of social network theory in evaluating animal social groups has gained traction in recent years. Despite the utility of social network analysis in describing attributes of social groups, it remains unclear how comparable this approach is to traditional behavioral observational studies. Using data on Gunnison's prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) social interactions we describe social networks from three populations. We then compare those social networks to groups identified by traditional behavioral approaches and explore whether individuals group together based on similarities. The social network social groups identified by social network analysis were consistent with those identified by more traditional behavioral approaches. However, fine-grained social sub-structuring was revealed only with social network analysis. We found variation in the patterns of interactions among prairie dog social groups that was largely independent of the behavioral attributes or genetics of the individuals within those groups. We detected that some social groups include disproportionately well-connected individuals acting as hubs or bridges. This study contributes to a growing body of evidence that social networks analysis is a robust and efficient tool for examining social dynamics.
Data from: Do pathogens reduce genetic diversity of their hosts? Variable effects of sylvatic plague in black-tailed prairie dogs
Introduced diseases can cause dramatic declines in—and even the loss of—natural populations. Extirpations may be followed by low recolonization rates, leading to inbreeding and a loss of genetic variation, with consequences on population viability. Conversely, extirpations may create vacant habitat patches that individuals from multiple source populations can colonize, potentially leading to an influx of variation. We tested these alternative hypotheses by sampling 15 colonies in a prairie dog metapopulation during 7 years that encompassed an outbreak of sylvatic plague, providing the opportunity to monitor genetic diversity before, during and after the outbreak. Analysis of nine microsatellite loci revealed that within the metapopulation, there was no change in diversity. However, within extirpated colonies, patterns varied: In half of the colonies, allelic richness after recovery was less than the preplague conditions, and in the other half, richness was greater than the preplague conditions. Finally, analysis of variation within individuals revealed that prairie dogs present in recolonized colonies had higher heterozygosity than those present before plague. We confirmed plague survivorship in six founders; these individuals had significantly higher heterozygosity than expected by chance. Collectively, our results suggest that high immigration rates can maintain genetic variation at a regional scale despite simultaneous extirpations in spatially proximate populations. Thus, virulent diseases may increase genetic diversity of host populations by creating vacant habitats that allow an influx of genetic diversity. Furthermore, even highly virulent diseases may not eliminate individuals randomly; rather, they may selectively remove the most inbred individuals.
Data from: Free-ranging dogs prefer petting over food in repeated interactions with unfamiliar humans
Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the first species to have been domesticated, and unlike other domesticated species, they have developed a special bonding with their owners. The ability to respond to human gestures and language, and the hypersocial behaviours of dogs are considered key factors that have led them to become man's best friend. Free-ranging dogs provide an excellent model system for understanding the dog-human relationship in various social contexts. In India, free-ranging dogs occur in all possible human habitations. They scavenge among garbage, beg for food from humans, give birth in dens close to human habitations, and establish social bonds with people. However, there is ample dog-human conflict on the streets, leading to morbidity and mortality of dogs. Hence the ability to assess an unfamiliar human before establishing physical contact could be adaptive for dogs especially in the urban environment. We tested a total of 103 adult free-ranging dogs to investigate their response to immediate social and long-term food and social rewards. The dogs were provided a choice of obtaining a food reward either from the experimenter's hand or the ground. The dogs avoided making physical contact with the unfamiliar human. While immediate social reward was not effective in changing this response, the long-term test showed a strong effect of the social contact on the dogs' response. Our results revealed that these dogs tend to build trust based on affection, and not food rewards. The study provides significant insights into the dynamics of dog-human interactions on the streets and subsequent changes in behaviours of dogs through the process of learning.
Data from: Selfish mothers indeed! Resource-dependent conflict over extended parental care in free-ranging dogs
Parent–offspring conflict (POC) theory provides an interesting premise for understanding social dynamics in facultatively social species. In free-ranging dogs, mothers increase conflict over extended parental care with their pups beyond the weaning stage. In this study, we investigated whether resource quality affects POC in the dogs that typically live in a highly competitive environment as scavengers. We built a theoretical model to predict the alternative options available to the mother in the context of food sharing with her pups when protein-rich food (meat) is provided, as compared to carbohydrate-rich food (biscuits). We fit the mothers' response from experimental data to the model and show that the mothers choose a selfish strategy, which can in turn ensure higher lifetime reproductive success, while depriving the current litter access to better resources. These results have interesting implications for understanding the social dynamics of the dogs, and the emergence of facultative sociality in a species that evolved from strongly social ancestors. We speculate that the tendency of increased conflict in resource-rich conditions might have driven the process of domestication in the ancestors of dogs which defected from their groups in favour of richer resources around human settlements.
Data from: Spatial and temporal patterns of neutral and adaptive genetic variation in the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)
Deciphering patterns of genetic variation within a species is essential for understanding population structure, local adaptation and differences in diversity between populations. Whilst neutrally evolving genetic markers can be used to elucidate demographic processes and genetic structure, they are not subject to selection and therefore are not informative about patterns of adaptive variation. As such, assessments of pertinent adaptive loci, such as the immunity genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), are increasingly being incorporated into genetic studies. In this study we combined neutral (microsatellite, mtDNA) and adaptive (MHC class II DLA-DRB1 locus) markers to elucidate the factors influencing patterns of genetic variation in the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus); an endangered canid that has suffered extensive declines in distribution and abundance. Our genetic analyses found all extant wild dog populations to be relatively small (Ne < 30). Furthermore, through coalescent modelling, we detected a genetic signature of a recent and substantial demographic decline, which correlates with human expansion, but contrasts with findings in some other African mammals. We found strong structure of wild dog populations, indicating the negative influence of extensive habitat fragmentation and loss of gene flow between habitat patches. Across populations we found that the spatial and temporal structure of microsatellite and MHC diversity were correlated, and strongly influenced by demographic stability and population size, indicating the effects of genetic drift in these small populations. Despite this correlation, we detected signatures of selection at the MHC, implying that selection has not been completely overwhelmed by genetic drift.
Data from: Population dynamics of owned, free-roaming dogs: implications for rabies control
Background: Rabies is a serious yet neglected public health threat in resource-limited communities in Africa, where the virus is maintained in populations of owned, free-roaming domestic dogs. Rabies elimination can be achieved through the mass vaccination of dogs, but maintaining the critical threshold of vaccination coverage for herd immunity in these populations is hampered by their rapid turnover. Knowledge of the population dynamics of free-roaming dog populations can inform effective planning and implementation of mass dog vaccination campaigns to control rabies. Methodology/Principal Findings: We implemented a health and demographic surveillance system in dogs that monitored the entire owned dog population within a defined geographic area in a community in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. We quantified demographic rates over a 24-month period, from 1st January 2012 through 1st January 2014, and assessed their implications for rabies control by simulating the decline in vaccination coverage over time. During this period, the population declined by 10%. Annual population growth rates were +18.6% in 2012 and -24.5% in 2013. Crude annual birth rates (per 1,000 dog-years of observation) were 451 in 2012 and 313 in 2013. Crude annual death rates were 406 in 2012 and 568 in 2013. Females suffered a significantly higher mortality rate in 2013 than males (mortality rate ratio [MRR] = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.28-1.85). In the age class 0-3 months, the mortality rate of dogs vaccinated against rabies was significantly lower than that of unvaccinated dogs (2012: MRR = 0.11, 95% CI = 0.05-0.21; 2013: MRR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.11-0.69). The results of the simulation showed that achieving a 70% vaccination coverage during annual campaigns would maintain coverage above the critical threshold for at least 12 months. Conclusions and Significance: Our findings provide an evidence base for the World Health Organization's empirically-derived target of 70% vaccination coverage during annual campaigns. Achieving this will be effective even in highly dynamic populations with extremely high growth rates and rapid turnover. This increases confidence in the feasibility of dog rabies elimination in Africa through mass vaccination.
Data from: Vocal characteristics of prairie dog alarm calls across an urban noise gradient
<p>Increasing anthropogenic noise is having a global impact on wildlife, particularly due to the masking of crucial acoustical communication. However, there have been few studies examining the impacts of noise exposure on communication in free-ranging terrestrial mammals. We studied alarm calls of black-tailed prairie dogs (<i>Cynomys ludovicianus</i>) across an urban gradient to explore vocal adjustment relative to different levels of noise exposure. There was no change in the frequency 5%, peak frequency or duration of the alarm calls across the noise gradient. However, the minimum frequency – a commonly used, yet potentially compromised metric – did indeed show a positive relationship with noise exposure. We suspect this is a result of masking of observable call properties by noise, rather than behavioural adjustment. In addition, the proximity of conspecifics and the distance to<span> </span><span><span>the perceived threat (observer)</span></span><span> did </span>affect the frequency 5% of alarm calls. These results reveal that prairie dogs do not appear to be adjusting their alarm calls in noisy environments but likely do in relation to their social context and the proximity of a predatory threat. Anthropogenic noise can elicit a range of behavioural and physiological responses across taxa, but elucidating the specific mechanisms driving these responses can be challenging, particularly as these are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Our research sheds light on how prairie dogs appear to respond to noise as a source of increased risk, rather than as a distraction or through acoustical masking as shown in other commonly studied species (e.g. fish, songbirds, marine mammals).</p>
Data from: Free-ranging dogs are capable of comprehending complex human pointing cues
<p>Dogs are one of the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity, leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity of understanding and responding to human referential gestures. The remarkable socio-cognitive skills of pet dogs, while interacting with humans, is quite well established. However, studies regarding the free-ranging subpopulations are greatly lacking. The interactions of these dogs with humans are quite complex and multidimensional. For the first time, we tested 160 adult free-ranging dogs to understand their ability to follow relatively complex human referential gestures using dynamic and momentary distal pointing cues. We found that these dogs are capable of following distal pointing cues from humans to locate hidden food rewards. However, approximately half of the population tested showed a lack of tendency to participate even after successful familiarization with the experimental set-up. A closer inspection revealed anxious behavioural states of the individuals were responsible for such an outcome. Finally, we compared the results using data from an earlier study with dynamic proximal cues. We found that free-ranging dogs follow distal cues more accurately compared to proximal cue. We assume that life experiences with humans probably shape personalities of free-ranging dogs, which in turn influence their responsiveness to human communicative gestures.</p>
Data from: Genetic evidence for multiple events of hybridization between wolves and domestic dogs in the Iberian Peninsula
Hybridization between wild species and their domestic counterparts may represent a major threat to natural populations. However, high genetic similarity between the hybridizing taxa makes the detection of hybrids a difficult task and may hinder attempts to assess the impact of hybridization in conservation biology. In this work, we used a combination of 42 autosomal microsatellites together with Y-chromosome microsatellite-defined haplotypes and mtDNA sequences to investigate the occurrence and dynamics of wolf–dog hybridization in the Iberian Peninsula. To do this, we applied a variety of Bayesian analyses and a parallel set of simulation studies to evaluate (i) the differences between Iberian wolves and dogs, (ii) the frequency and geographical distribution of hybridization and (iii) the directionality of hybridization. First, we show that Iberian wolves and dogs form two well-differentiated genetic entities, suggesting that introgressive hybridization is not a widespread phenomenon shaping both gene pools. Second, we found evidence for the existence of hybridization that is apparently restricted to more peripheral and recently expanded wolf populations. Third, we describe compelling evidence suggesting that the dynamics of hybridization in wolf populations is mediated by crosses between male dogs and female wolves. More importantly, the observation of a population showing the occurrence of a continuum of hybrid classes forming mixed packs may indicate that we have underestimated hybridization. If future studies confirm this pattern, then an intriguing avenue of research is to investigate how introgression from free-ranging domestic dogs is enabling wolf populations to adapt to the highly humanized habitats of southern Europe while still maintaining their genetic differentiation.
Data from: Selfish pups: weaning conflict and milk theft in free-ranging dogs
Parent-offspring conflict theory predicts the emergence of weaning conflict between a mother and her offspring arising from skewed relatedness benefits. Empirical observations of weaning conflict have not been carried out in canids. In a field-based study on free-ranging dogs we observed that nursing/suckling bout durations decrease, proportion of mother-initiated nursing bouts decrease and mother-initiated nursing/suckling terminations increase with pup age. We identified the 7th - 13th week period of pup age as the zone of conflict between the mother and her pups, beyond which suckling solicitations cease, and before which suckling refusals are few. We also report for the first time milk theft by pups who take advantage of the presence of multiple lactating females, due to the promiscuous mating system of the dogs. This behaviour, though apparently disadvantageous for the mothers, is perhaps adaptive for the dogs in the face of high mortality and competition for resources.
Data from: Homogenous population genetic structure of the non-native raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Europe as a result of rapid population expansion
The extent of gene flow during the range expansion of non-native species influences the amount of genetic diversity retained in expanding populations. Here, we analyse the population genetic structure of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in north-eastern and central Europe. This invasive species is of management concern because it is highly susceptible to fox rabies and an important secondary host of the virus. We hypothesized that the large number of introduced animals and the species' dispersal capabilities led to high population connectivity and maintenance of genetic diversity throughout the invaded range. We genotyped 332 tissue samples from seven European countries using 16 microsatellite loci. Different algorithms identified three genetic clusters corresponding to Finland, Denmark and a large 'central' population that reached from introduction areas in western Russia to northern Germany. Cluster assignments provided evidence of long-distance dispersal. The results of an Approximate Bayesian Computation analysis supported a scenario of equal effective population sizes among different pre-defined populations in the large central cluster. Our results are in line with strong gene flow and secondary admixture between neighbouring demes leading to reduced genetic structuring, probably a result of its fairly rapid population expansion after introduction. The results presented here are remarkable in the sense that we identified a homogenous genetic cluster inhabiting an area stretching over more than 1500km. They are also relevant for disease management, as in the event of a significant rabies outbreak, there is a great risk of a rapid virus spread among raccoon dog populations.
Data from: The evolutionary history of dogs in the Americas
Dogs were present in the Americas prior to the arrival of European colonists, but the origin and fate of these pre-contact dogs are largely unknown. We sequenced 71 mitochondrial and seven nuclear genomes from ancient North American and Siberian dogs spanning ~9,000 years. Our analysis indicates that American dogs were not domesticated from North American wolves. Instead, American dogs form a monophyletic lineage that likely originated in Siberia and dispersed into the Americas alongside people. After the arrival of Europeans, native American dogs almost completely disappeared, leaving a minimal genetic legacy in modern dog populations. Remarkably, the closest detectable extant lineage to pre-contact American dogs is the canine transmissible venereal tumor, a contagious cancer clone derived from an individual dog that lived up to 8,000 years ago.
Data from: Sneeze to leave: African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) use variable quorum thresholds facilitated by sneezes in collective decisions.
In despotically driven animal societies, one or a few individuals tend to have a disproportionate influence on group decision-making and actions. However, global communication allows each group member to assess the relative strength of preferences for different options amongst their group-mates. Here, we investigate collective decisions by free-ranging African wild dog packs in Botswana. African wild dogs exhibit dominant-directed group living and take part in stereotyped social rallies: high energy greeting ceremonies that occur before collective movements. Not all rallies result in collective movements, for reasons that are not well understood. We show that the probability of rally success (i.e. group departure) is predicted by a minimum number of audible rapid nasal exhalations ('sneezes'), within the rally. Moreover, the number of sneezes needed for the group to depart (i.e. the quorum) was reduced whenever dominant individuals initiated rallies, suggesting that dominant participation increases the likelihood of a rally's success, but is not a prerequisite. As such, the 'will of the group' may override dominant preferences when the consensus of subordinates is sufficiently great. Our findings illustrate how specific behavioural mechanisms (here, sneezing) allow for negotiation (in effect, voting) that shapes decision-making in a wild, socially complex animal society.
Data from: Death by sex in an Australian icon: a continent-wide survey reveals extensive hybridization between dingoes and domestic dogs
Hybridization between domesticated animals and their wild counterparts can disrupt adaptive gene combinations, reduce genetic diversity, extinguish wild populations and change ecosystem function. The dingo is a free-ranging dog that is an iconic apex predator and distributed throughout most of mainland Australia. Dingoes readily hybridize with domestic dogs, and in many Australian jurisdictions, distinct management strategies are dictated by hybrid status. Yet, the magnitude and spatial extent of domestic dog–dingo hybridization is poorly characterized. To address this, we performed a continent-wide analysis of hybridization throughout Australia based on 24 locus microsatellite DNA genotypes from 3637 free-ranging dogs. Although 46% of all free-ranging dogs were classified as pure dingoes, all regions exhibited some hybridization, and the magnitude varied substantially. The southeast of Australia was highly admixed, with 99% of animals being hybrids or feral domestic dogs, whereas only 13% of the animals from remote central Australia were hybrids. Almost all free-ranging dogs had some dingo ancestry, indicating that domestic dogs could have poor survivorship in nonurban Australian environments. Overall, wild pure dingoes remain the dominant predator over most of Australia, but the speed and extent to which hybridization has occurred in the approximately 220 years since the first introduction of domestic dogs indicate that the process may soon threaten the persistence of pure dingoes.
Data from: The shepherds' tale: a genome-wide study across 9 dog breeds implicates two loci in the regulation of fructosamine serum concentration in Belgian shepherds
Diabetes mellitus is a serious health problem in both dogs and humans. Certain dog breeds show high prevalence of the disease, whereas other breeds are at low risk. Fructosamine and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) are two major biomarkers of glycaemia where serum concentrations reflect glucose turnover over the past few weeks to months. In this study, we searched for genetic factors influencing variation in serum fructosamine concentration in healthy dogs using data from nine dog breeds. Considering all breeds together, we did not find any genome-wide significant associations to fructosamine serum concentration. However, by performing breed-specific analyses we revealed an association on CFA 3 (pcorrected ≈ 1.68 × 10−6) in Belgian shepherd dogs. The associated region and its close neighborhood harbours interesting candidate genes such as LETM1 and GAPDH that are important in glucose metabolism and have previously been implicated in the aetiology of diabetes mellitus. To further explore the genetics of this breed specificity, we screened the genome for reduced heterozygosity stretches private to the Belgian shepherd breed. This revealed a region with reduced heterozygosity that shows a statistically significant interaction (p = 0.025) with the association region on CFA3. This region also harbours some interesting candidate genes and regulatory regions but the exact mechanisms underlying the interaction are still unknown. Nevertheless, this finding provides a plausible explanation for breed-specific genetic effects for complex traits in dogs. Shepherd breeds are at low risk of developing diabetes mellitus. The findings in Belgian shepherds could be connected to a protective mechanism against the disease. Further insight into the regulation of glucose metabolism could improve diagnostic and therapeutic methods for diabetes mellitus.
Data from: Genome-wide analysis of SNPs is consistent with no domestic dog ancestry in the endangered Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)
The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) was historically distributed throughout the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Extensive predator removal campaigns during the early 20th century, however, resulted in its eventual extirpation by the mid 1980s. At this time, the Mexican wolf existed only in three separate captive lineages (McBride, Ghost Ranch, and Aragón) descended from three, two, and two founders, respectively. These lineages were merged in 1995 to increase the available genetic variation, and Mexican wolves were reintroduced into Arizona and New Mexico in 1998. Despite the ongoing management of the Mexican wolf population, it has been suggested that a proportion of the Mexican wolf ancestry may be recently derived from hybridization with domestic dogs. In this study, we genotyped 87 Mexican wolves, including individuals from all three captive lineages and cross-lineage wolves, for more than 172,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We identified levels of genetic variation consistent with the pedigree record and effects of genetic rescue. To identify the potential to detect hybridization with domestic dogs, we compared our Mexican wolf genotypes with those from studies of domestic dogs and other gray wolves. The proportion of Mexican wolf ancestry assigned to domestic dogs was only between 0.06% (SD 0.23%) and 7.8% (SD 1.0%) for global and local ancestry estimates, respectively; and was consistent with simulated levels of incomplete lineage sorting. Overall, our results suggested that Mexican wolves lack biologically significant ancestry with dogs and have useful implications for the conservation and management of this endangered wolf subspecies.
Data from: High-resolution contact networks of free-ranging domestic dogs Canis familiaris and implications for transmission of infection
Contact patterns strongly influence the dynamics of disease transmission in both human and non-human animal populations. Domestic dogs Canis familiaris are a social species and are a reservoir for several zoonotic infections, yet few studies have empirically determined contact patterns within dog populations. Using high-resolution proximity logging technology, we characterised the contact networks of free-ranging domestic dogs from two settlements (n = 108 dogs, covering >80% of the population in each settlement) in rural Chad. We used these data to simulate the transmission of an infection comparable to rabies and investigated the effects of including observed contact heterogeneities on epidemic outcomes. We found that dog contact networks displayed considerable heterogeneity, particularly in the duration of contacts and that the network had communities that were highly correlated with household membership. Simulations using observed contact networks had smaller epidemic sizes than those that assumed random mixing, demonstrating the unsuitability of homogenous mixing models in predicting epidemic outcomes. When contact heterogeneities were included in simulations, the network position of the individual initially infected had an important effect on epidemic outcomes. The risk of an epidemic occurring was best predicted by the initially infected individual's ranked degree, while epidemic size was best predicted by the individual's ranked eigenvector centrality. For dogs in one settlement, we found that ranked eigenvector centrality was correlated with range size. Our results demonstrate that observed heterogeneities in contacts are important for the prediction of epidemiological outcomes in free-ranging domestic dogs. We show that individuals presenting a higher risk for disease transmission can be identified by their network position and provide evidence that observable traits hold potential for informing targeted disease management strategies.
Data from: Hot dogs: high ambient temperatures impact reproductive success in a tropical carnivore
Climate change imposes an urgent need to recognise and conserve the species likely to be worst affected. However, while ecologists have mostly explored indirect effects of rising ambient temperatures on temperate and polar species, physiologists have predicted direct impacts on tropical species. The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), a tropical species, exhibits few of the traits typically used to predict climate change vulnerability. Nevertheless, we predicted that wild dog populations might be sensitive to weather conditions, because the species shows strongly seasonal reproduction across most of its geographical range. We explored associations between weather conditions, reproductive costs, and reproductive success, drawing on long-term wild dog monitoring data from sites in Botswana (20°S, 24 years), Kenya (0°N, 12 years), and Zimbabwe (20°S, 6 years). High ambient temperatures were associated with reduced foraging time, especially during the energetically costly pup-rearing period. Across all three sites, packs which reared pups at high ambient temperatures produced fewer recruits than did those rearing pups in cooler weather; at the non-seasonal Kenya site such packs also had longer inter-birth intervals. Over time, rising ambient temperatures at the (longest-monitored) Botswana site coincided with falling wild dog recruitment. Our findings suggest a direct impact of high ambient temperatures on African wild dog demography, indicating that this species, which is already globally endangered, may be highly vulnerable to climate change. This vulnerability would have been missed by simplistic trait-based assessments, highlighting the limitations of such assessments. Seasonal reproduction, which is less common at low latitudes than at higher latitudes, might be a useful indicator of climate change vulnerability among tropical species.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.