They found that cohesive clustering of the kind where an individual bonds with friends of friends, something scientists call «triadic closure,» was the most consistent factor influencing the long - term dynamics of the social structure
of spotted hyenas.
Science: Hyena society is founded on friendship Headline News Global News: Hyenas prefer to buddy up with «friends of friends» Sci-News.com: Scientists puzzled by «social network»
of spotted hyenas
Researchers collected more than 55,000 observations of social interactions
of spotted hyenas over a 20 year period in Kenya, making this one of the largest to date of social network dynamics in any non-human species.
Holekamp and Smale say that the ability
of spotted hyenas to manipulate the sex ratio of their offspring makes evolutionary sense.
The researchers used a new, more comprehensive method than those used in earlier studies, a type of mathematical modeling typically found in sociology, to arrive at their findings about the social world
of the spotted hyena.
Not exact matches
So Dinets and Eligulashvili were surprised when they observed striped
hyenas — the little known, mostly solitary relatives
of the better - known
spotted hyenas of Africa — in the middle
of grey wolf packs, moving together through a maze
of canyons in the southern part
of the Negev desert.
The
spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) have hierarchical societies similar to those
of primates; lions (Panthera leo) live in egalitarian prides with as many as 21 members; whereas tigers (P. tigris) and leopards (P. pardus) lead more solitary lives, except when females have young or when males and females meet to mate.
According to a report in the current issue
of the Proceedings
of the National Academy
of Sciences, the
spotted hyena can carry the virus without developing symptoms.
SPOTTED hyenas can drastically alter the sex ratio
of their young from one litter to the next, say two American biologists.
Spotted hyenas are high on the list
of suspects as the final link in the chain because they mix with lions at a kill.
The
spotted hyena is doing well enough to be considered
of «Least Concern» by IUCN, but its population is also declining, primarily due to habitat loss.
Indeed, after the rook paper appeared, Christine Drea
of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, published a study showing that
spotted hyenas can cooperate on a similar task (Animal Behaviour, DOI: 10.1016 / j.anbehav.2009.06.030).
Nearly 90 per cent
of male
spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) leave their birth clan and disperse to pastures new, but until now it has never been clear what drives them away.
In the two decades following the epidemic, wild canids died following CDV infection but fatal CDV was not observed in lions or
spotted hyenas anymore, even though high prevalence
of serum antibodies against CDV in some years indicated outbreaks
of asymptomatic exposure to the virus in lions and
hyenas.
The long - running debate about why just one
of several canine distemper virus (CDV) outbreaks in the Serengeti in Tanzania during the past 25 years was fatal for lions and
spotted hyenas has been resolved.
I joined Dr. Kay Holekamp's lab, which focuses on the ontogenetic development, physiological substrates, and evolution
of mammalian behavior, using the free - living
spotted hyena as a model species.
The
spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) as a model system for study
of the evolution
of intelligence.
Spotted hyena cubs
of high - ranking mothers have a lower probability
of infection with and are less likely to die from canine distemper virus (CDV) than cubs
of low - ranking mothers.
In 2016, scientists published the results
of a study that simulated how zebras appear to lions and
spotted hyenas in different lighting conditions and from different distances.
And the arrival
of the African
spotted hyena into Eurasia matches the extinction
of the giant short - facet
hyena about 800,000 years ago.
Biologists assume, for example, that the
spotted hyena is now found in savannas and arid regions
of Africa and the Middle East because it is perfectly adapted to their specific conditions, such as high temperatures and aridity.
But a certain four - legged predator, the
spotted hyena, seems to know the benefits
of this type
of social bonding instinctively, according to a new study from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) that considers the structural factors affecting the social network
of these animals.
Effects
of trophy hunting leftovers on the ranging behaviour
of large carnivores: A case study on
spotted hyenas.
And indeed, we find a
spotted hyena with three pups, one
of which is very small and completely black, the other two are bigger, already have their
spots and are very cheeky.
The Big 5 Madikwe Game Reserve, consisting
of reclaimed farm land, is famous for the ambitious re-stocking program «Operation Phoenix» and is now home to the big five and is famous for its wild dog and
spotted hyena.
Cheetah, Hippo, Crocodile,
spotted Hyena, Giraffe, Wildebeest, Zebra and numerous species
of antelope are also resident in the reserve.