Related papers: Preference for meat is not innate in dogs
Animals that scavenge in and around human localities need to utilize a broad range of resources. Preference for any one kind of food, under such circumstances, might be inefficient. Indian free-ranging dogs, Canis lupus familiaris are…
Finding food is a fundamental activity for survival of all living organisms. Free-ranging dogs have been known to use their olfaction to assess the quality and type of available food but their use of visual ability in foraging is not…
Animals employ strategic decision-making while carefully weighing nutritional benefits against the risks presented by aversive or harmful stimuli in their natural environment, to maximize foraging efficiency, In India, free-ranging dogs…
The urban habitat provides a landscape that increases the chances of human-animal interactions, which can lead to increased human-animal conflict, but also coexistence. Some species show high levels of socio-cognitive abilities that enable…
Palatability of food is driven by multiple factors like taste, smell, texture, freshness, etc. and can be very variable across species. There are classic examples of local adaptations leading to speciation, driven by food availability.…
Foraging and acquiring of food is a delicate balance between managing the costs, both energy and social, and individual preferences. Previous research on the solitary foraging of free ranging dogs showed that they prioritized the…
Animals that display behavioural flexibility and adaptability thrive in urban environments, due to their ability to exploit novel anthropogenic resources. Since humans are an important component of such urban environments, animals that…
Free-ranging dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) constitute the majority of the global dog population and rely heavily on human-derived resources. Studies show different levels of responses to various cues like food, petting and gazing by humans.…
Free-ranging dogs constitute approximately 80% of the global dog population. These dogs are freely breeding and live without direct human supervision, making them an ideal model system for studying dog-human relationships. Living in close…
Mammalian offspring require parental care, at least in the form of suckling 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…
Individual human recognition is important for species that live in close proximity to humans. Numerous studies on domesticated species and urban-adapted birds have highlighted this ability. One such species which is heavily reliant on…
Cooperative breeding is an excellent example of altruistic cooperation in social groups. Domestic dogs have evolved from cooperatively hunting and breeding ancestors, but have adapted to a facultatively social scavenging lifestyle on…
Canids display a wide diversity of social systems, from solitary to pairs to packs, and hence they have been extensively used as model systems to understand social dynamics in natural systems. Among canids, the dog can show various levels…
Canids display a vast diversity of social organizations, from solitary-living to pairs to packs. Domestic dogs have descended from pack-living gray wolf-like ancestors. Unlike their group living ancestors, free-ranging dogs are…
During fast locomotion - gallop, half bound - of quadruped mammals, the ground contact of the limbs in each pair do not alternate symmetrically. Animals using such asymmetrical gait thus choose whether the left or the right limb will…
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 has not been carried out in canids. In a…
The domestic dog is known to have evolved from gray wolves, about 15,000 years ago. They majorly exist as free-ranging populations across the world. They are typically scavengers and well adapted to living among humans. Most canids living…
Rapid urbanization is a major cause of habitat and biodiversity loss and human-animal conflict. While urbanization is inevitable, we need to develop a good understanding of the urban ecosystem and the urban-adapted species in order to…
Understanding how animals make foraging decisions in challenging or unpleasant contexts sheds light on the processes that underlie cognitive development and the evolution of adaptive foraging techniques in complex ecological settings. In…
Collective animal movement fascinates children and scientists alike. One of the most commonly given explanations for collective animal movement is improved foraging. Animals are hypothesized to gain from searching for food in groups. Here,…