Natural selection and the communal rearing of pups in African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)

Reproductive sharing and proximate factors mediating cooperative breeding in the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)

“…In three of 11 breeding years, packs with multiple female potential breeders had formed shortly before the breeding season, and, on many occasions, copulations were observed between several males and females before pack dominance hierarchy was established. This is not unusual as others have observed multiple females and males copulating in earlier African wild dog studies (Malcolm and Marten 1982;Girman et al 1997). Occasionally, this has resulted in births to subordinate females with the litters then sometimes killed by the alpha female (Reich 1981;Malcolm and Marten 1982;Fuller et al 1992).…”

“…The standard model of a wild dog pack consists of a dominant breeding pair, several subordinate non-breeding adults (usually siblings of the same-sex dominant individual), and subordinate offspring of the alpha pair (Girman et al 1997). After a birth (usually once per year in a given pack), all group members cooperate in provisioning the lactating female in the den and feeding/ protecting pups after emerging from underground (Malcolm and Marten 1982;Creel and Creel 2002). After 1 year of age, offspring disperse as far as 250 km from the natal pack territory in single-sex, sibling groups (Fuller et al 1992) in search of opportunities to join other dispersers or an already established group (Frame et al 1979).…”

“…The prevailing view has been that dominant female and male wild dogs are the sole breeders within a pack, with most pups resulting from this pairing (Malcolm and Marten 1982;Girman et al 1997). One study estimated that alpha females and males achieve~96% of total annual reproductive success through mating and offspring production compared with only~10% for occasionally breeding subordinates (Girman et al 1997).…”

“…One study estimated that alpha females and males achieve~96% of total annual reproductive success through mating and offspring production compared with only~10% for occasionally breeding subordinates (Girman et al 1997). However, exceptions to alpha reproductive dominance have been reported, with behavioral observations suggesting that subordinate females have produced 19% of litters in Kruger National Park (South Africa; Reich 1981), 24% in the Selous (Tanzania; Creel and Creel 2002), and 25% in the Serengeti ecosystem (Tanzania; Malcolm and Marten 1982). Only three smallscale genetic analyses have compared reproductive contributions between wild dog social classes.…”

Adult male emigration and a female-based social organization in swift foxes, Vulpes velox

“…Among larger canids, exaeme forms of a male-biased social organization have been reported among African hunting dogs, Lycaon pi&, and Ethiopian wolves, Cmis simensis, where groups of males maintain territories and family suuchwe, and females emigrate from family groups (Sillero-Zubiri et al 1996;Creel & Creel 2002). Under these social systems, groups of males are probably the limiting factor, betause they are necessary to provide food to pups and maintain pack territories (Malcolm 1980;Sillero-Zubiri & Gottelli 1995). Only one or a few females are needed per family p u p to reproduce and nurse pups (SUero-Zubiri et al 1996;Creel & Creel 2002).…”