We employed global positioning system (GPS) locations of 18 marked cougars and genetic material from 68 cougars in the Southern Yellowstone Ecosystem to test our current assumptions about the social organization of this non-cooperative, solitary carnivore. We tested whether variable numbers of spatial associations over 7 years of our project could be explained by increasing numbers of wolves in the system, decreasing numbers of prey, changes in cougar density, the mean genetic relatedness between interacting individuals, or the timing of the breeding season. We documented 92 spatial associations and an additional 190 incidents of spatial overlap. Our models suggested only season influenced the number of associations in any given year, and a greater frequency of associations occurred in the breeding season. Nevertheless, the proportion of associations that were male-female (M-F) remained consistent across breeding and non-breeding seasons, suggesting M-F associations may not entirely be driven by mating opportunities; alternatively, the frequency of associations may have been driven by snow depths and the distributions of cougar prey in winter. The mean r value for female-female spatial associations was 0.087 (defined as "unrelated") and did not significantly differ from M-F or M-M associations. In conclusion, our genetic research revealed not only matrilineal lines in the Southern Yellowstone Ecosystem but also immigration by new females. Subadult males primarily emigrated out of the system, but one male remained philopatric. Our results highlighted the notion that solitary cougars are associating, and potentially interacting, on the landscape with regularity and predictability. Further, our results raised critical questions: If cougars are associating more frequently than previously believed, why do they do so and are these interactions typically agonistic?

This book focuses on Yellowstone: the park, the larger ecosystem, and even more so, the “idea” of Yellowstone. In presenting a case for a new conservation paradigm for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), including Yellowstone National Park, the book, at its heart, is about people and nature relationships. This new paradigm will be truly committed to a healthy, sustainable environment, rich in other life forms, and one that affords dignity for all: humans and nonhumans. The new story or paradigm must be about living such a commitment and future for GYE in real time. The book presents a well-developed theory for interdisciplinary problem solving that is grounded in practice.

In this first-ever landmark study of New Mexico's wild carnivores, Jean-Luc E. Cartron and Jennifer K. Frey have assembled a team of leading southwestern biologists to explore the animals and the major issues that shape their continued presence in the state and region. The book includes discussions on habitat, evolving or altered ecosystems, and new discoveries about animal behavior and range, and it also provides details on the distribution, habitat associations, life history, population status, management, and conservation needs of individual carnivore species in New Mexico. Like Cartron's award-winning Raptors of New Mexico, Wild Carnivores of New Mexico shares the same emphasis on scientific rigor and thoroughness, high readability, and visual appeal. Each chapter is illustrated with numerous color photographs to help readers visualize unique morphological or life-history traits, habitat, research techniques, and management and conservation issues.

The editors begin with articles that illuminate the discipline's diverse scientific foundations, such as L.

The Primate Origins of Human Nature (Volume 3 in The Foundations of Human Biology series) blends several elements from evolutionary biology as applied to primate behavioral ecology and primate psychology, classical physical anthropology and evolutionary psychology of humans. However, unlike similar books, it strives to define the human species relative to our living and extinct relatives, and thus highlights uniquely derived human features. The book features a truly multi-disciplinary, multi-theory, and comparative species approach to subjects not usually presented in textbooks focused on humans, such as the evolution of culture, life history, parenting, and social organization.

The past decade has seen a steady increase in studies oflemur behavior and ecology. As a result, there is much novel information on newly studied populations, and even newly discovered species, that has not yet been published or summarized. In fact, lemurs have not been the focus of an international symposium since the Prosimian Biology Conference in London in 1972. Moreover, research on lemurs has reached a new quality by addressing general issues in behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology. Although lemurs provide important comparative information on these topics, this aspect of research on lemurs has not been reviewed and compared with similar studies in other primate radiations. Thus, as did many in the field, we felt that the time was ripe to review and synthesize our knowledge of lemur behavioral ecology. Following an initiative by Gerry Doyle, we organized a symposium at the XIVth Congress of the International Primatological Society in Strasbourg, France, where 15 contributions summarized much new information on lemur social systems and their ecological basis. This volume provides a collection of the papers presented at the Strasbourg symposium (plus two reports from recently completed field projects). Each chapter was peer-reviewed, typically by one "lemurologist" and one other biologist. The first three chapters present novel information from the first long-term field studies of three enigmatic species. Sterling describes the social organization of Daubentonia madagascariensis, showing that aye-aye ranging patterns deviate from those of all other nocturnal primates.

Advances in the Study of Behavior continues to serve scientists across a wide spectrum of disciplines. Focusing on new theories and research developments with respect to behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, and comparative psychology, these volumes foster cooperation and communication in these diverse fields.