American Pronghorn Social Adaptations and the Ghosts of Predators Past

About this book

Pronghorn antelope are the fastest runners in North America, clocked at speeds of up to 100km per hour. Yet none of their current predators come close to matching them for speed. They also gather in groups for safety. But again, none of their predators is fearsome enough to merit such a response. Byers argues that such apparently mystifying behaviour evolved in response to the dangerous predators with whom the pronghorn shared their grassland home for nearly four million years: among them fleet hyaenas, lions, and cheetahs. Although these predators died out ten thousand years ago, pronghorn still behave as if they were still present. Byer's hypothesis extends to other animals - are their adaptations haunted by selective pressures from predators past?

Contents

Preface Ch. 1: Survivors from Another World Ch. 2: Methods and Materials Ch. 3: The Selfish Herd: Modal Social Organization Ch. 4: Birth and the Hiding Strategy Ch. 5: Behavioral Development Ch. 6: Lifetime Dominance Ranks of Females and Males Ch. 7: Female Reproduction: The Level of Expenditure Ch. 8: Female Reproduction: Age, Rank, and Individual Differences Ch. 9: Male Reproduction: A Short, Dangerous Life Ch. 10: The Mating System: Conflict and Cooperation between the Sexes Ch. 11: The Ghosts of Predators Past App. 1: Ungulate Populations on the National Bison Range App. 2: The National Bison Range Pronghorn Population App. 3: A Partial List of Native Flowering Grassland Plants Found in Pronghorn Habitat on the National Bison Range App. 4: Dates of Birth and Death, Focal Hours of Observation, and the Nature of Early Social Experience of Individual Males and Females That Were Followed Longitudinally App. 5: Measurement of Male Size App. 6: Measurement of Rut Activity Costs of Females References AuthorIndex Subject Index

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