Agonism: The display of aggression between animals. A conflict or competition that results in combative behavior.
Alpha Pair: This term has been used for many years by wolf biologists to determine which animals were the “leaders of the pack” and designated as the ones producing offspring. According to wolf researcher Dr. L. David Mech and others, this term has been retired and the term “breeding pair” has replaced it. This term more accurately describes the role of wolves in achieving that status and identifies them, simply, as the “parent wolves”. In some cases it has been reported that there is more than one breeding pair in the pack and, on occasion, two females will bear young, share a den, and raise the pups together.
Altricial: A young animal that is born helpless and virtually naked. These young animals must stay with the parents for a substantial amount of time in order to survive. This is the opposite of precocial.
Bovid: Any member of the cow family (Bovidae). Bison are bovids.
Canidae: The family of canids that originated in North America and migrated to other parts of the world. All members can interbreed (most choose not to breed with other subspecies) and they have a long and rich fossil history.
Canid: Any member of the dog family (Canidae). Wolves, Coyotes, Jackals, & Dogs.
Carnivore: Any animal that feeds of other animals and has a diet consisting of at least 70% meat. In taxonomic terms it refers to any mammal in the order Carnivora. Canids, Felids, Ursids, Pinnipeds, Mustelids, Skunks, and Procyonids are carnivores.
Carrion: The carcass of a dead animal.
Cervid: Any member of the deer family (Cervidae). Elk are members of this family.
Communication: The system used by animals to inform another individual or group of their intentions. Signals are given (either visual or vocal) and the behavior of both the giver and the receiver of the signals is displayed according to the interpretation of the signals. Communication between species can be subtle and/or complex.
Competition: The interaction between two or more individuals when gaining or relinquishing access or control of some type of resource. The resource may be access to females during breeding, food, shelter, water, or territory, for instance.
Copulatory “tie”: During copulation the male and female canid pair remained joined for a time as a result of the bulbous glandis at the base of the penis swelling after ejaculation so that it remains lodged in the vagina. The canid male usually steps over the rear of the female and the pair end up facing opposite directions. This condition is not fully understood but thought to ensure that the specific male is the only one able to breed with the specific female. This helps to ensure that the mating is successful.
Core area: The main part of the primary home range of an animal. This portion of the range does not usually overlap with other core ranges.
Courtship: All animals have some type of courtship ritual which prepares and leads to successful mating. This includes movement, communication, habitat building, grooming, affection, or other types of behaviors that result in mating bonding behavior.
Coyote:
Den: The secure area where females birth their young. Wolves usually choose areas with good drainage, safe and secure landscape, and hidden from predators. Dens can be dug for the first time or modified from the abandoned dens of other animals. Wolf dens have a large area for the female and pups, many tunnels, and at least 2 escape routes. Dens are often re-used from year to year if they prove safe. In Yellowstone it was recorded that the same den had been used for almost 50 years by wolves.
Density: The amount of something in any given area.
Dispersal: The act by a wolf or other canid of leaving the natal pack and striking out on their own to find a mate and establish their own pack. This aids in non-related breeding opportunities and keeps lineages strong and not closely related. Some wolves choose to leave the pack due to societal problems and they become “lone wolves”.
Dog: A direct descendent of the gray wolf ( Canis lupus) and member of the Canidae family. This is the most diverse member of the Canidae and varies in size from a small Chihuahua to the large Irish Wolfhound. Most dogs are genetically engineered to human specifications for specific jobs that aid humans. Some breeds like the Borzoi, Saluki, Finnish Spitz, and Basinji are considered “old breeds” and are more like their ancestors.
Dominant: An animal that has proven its authority or shown its leadership over another animal thereby proving that the other animal is submissive to it. This is important to wolves because it establishes the role of the dominant wolf to the other pack members.
Estrous: Part of the female’s breeding cycle when she is hormonally ready to mate.
Felid: A member of the cat family (Felidae).
Habitat: The physical environment in which an animal resides. This is inclusive of all living and geological, geographical, and physical aspects of the area.
Herbivore: An animal that feeds, mainly, on any type of vegetation.
Home Range: The area that an animal or group of animals uses, consistently, over any given time (usually yearly). Yearly it is described as their annual home range.
Interference competition: When animals become competitive over resources and settle the conflict with aggression, surprise attacks, or threatening behavior.
Interspecific: Contact or interaction between two species or groups of animals. Opposite of intraspecific.
Intraspecific: Contact or interaction between animals of the same group. Opposite of interspecific.
Juvenile: A young animal that has not yet reached sexual maturity or has left the natal pack as a dispersal animal. In wolves this is usually an animal under 2.0-2.5 years old.
Keystone species: A species that, when introduced to an area, causes the entire ecosystem and its inhabitants to change. This impact can affect every living community including plants, birds, multiple species, water, and ecology. A good example is the impact of wolves on the Yellowstone ecosystem after their reintroduction in 1995.
Lactation: The milk producing cycle of the female mammal in order to feed the young.
Monogamy: When a single male and single female mate and stay together as long as they are both alive. Wolves tend to do this and it causes great chaos when one of the pair is killed or dies naturally. It is especially devastating when it is the breeding pair.
Omnivore: An animal that eats both meat and vegetation.
Pack: A group of animals such as wolves, wild dogs, and coyotes that live together in the same territory, raise young together, hunt and eat together, and function as a family unit. A pack usually contains a breeding pair, pups, yearlings, juveniles, and older animals. The pack is highly social with complicated means of communication and cooperative (either individual or group) hunting protocols, and an elaborate set of pack hierarchy rules and behaviors. A wolf pack can range from 2 animals to 10 animals and some have been reported to contain up to 36 to 42 animals, but that is rare. The average North American pack size is around 6 – 8 animals. Pack size varies based on prey availability, territory size, territory, and disease. The most unusual type of wolf pack was recorded from Yellowstone National Park 7 years after the reintroduction in 1995. This pack consisted of three separate packs made up of various animals from 4 other packs. This “hodge-podge” was comprised of dispersers, Druid Peak Pack females, and assorted males that interacted with each other on a daily basis.
Pelage: The coat of a mammal. The Yellowstone wolves have a varied pelage coloring among different packs ranging from white, grizzled, gray, or black.
Polygymy: When one male dominates breeding access to two or more females.
Precocial: Young that are born with fur and eyes open. They require very little parental care to survive and are mobile immediately after birth. This is prevalent in ungulates such as Wildebeests.
Predation: The act of one animal killing and eating another animal.
Prey: Animals that are hunted for food.
Radio Collar: A very expensive specialized collar attached to an animal for the purpose of biological or statistical scientific study. The collars are outfitted with telemetry capabilities so that researchers can track the movements of the animal wearing it.
Rendezvous site: A protected area for the young while they interact socially with their siblings, parents, and extended family while they are learning how to become contributing members of the group. Wolves keep their puppies in this type of “aboveground den” till they are about 6 months old and begin to go with the adults. Cats tend not to do this.
Sexual dimorphism: The developmental condition of sexual disparity between males and females. Wolves tend to have larger males, Birds tend to have larger females. This is also a condition that can be modified by individual variation.
Scat: The fecal dropping of an animal. Shape, color, and content can provide much information about the animal and its behavior in the area where scat is found.
Scavenger: An animal that opportunistically eats another animal that it did not kill.
Sign: The presence of an animal’s existence in the area. This can be scat (feces), urination marking, scratches, regurgitated food, blood droppings from females in estrous, chewed bone, or patches of hair. Tracks are considered a separate way to show an animal’s presence.
Subadult: A sexually mature individual that is socially deficient within the group. This may be an animal that lacks a certain size, or is too shy, or does not communicate. They may mature further and become a member of the group after some time.
Subordinate: An animal that yields to the authority of a dominant animal on a regular basis. In wolves there are usually some subordinate wolves within the pack.
Telemetry: The use of electronic equipment to pick up the signal given by a transmitter. When an animal is fitted with a radio collar the signal assigned to it can be read via the antennae and receiver attached to a machine. This is used with wolves and other study animals for the purpose of locating movement, checking on herds or packs, the winter count. Wolves are also tracked so that packs can be documented.
Territory: An area chosen and marked by wolves as their own. This area provides food, shelter, and other resources for the pack and is defended by that pack against intruders that might jeopardize those resources.
Transient: An animal without an established territory or affiliation.
Vibrissae: Whiskers. The hairs on the face that are used to gather information from the environment, to communicate with other animals, or to judge distance or area.
Weaning: The process of transferring the young from mother’s milk to solid food. In some animals this can be abrupt, but usually it is a slow process and deliberate.
Wild Landscape: The territory or environment where animals live that has not been tampered with by humans.
Wolf: The largest member of the Canidae in any given geographical locality. The wolf is the most widely distributed and most adaptable land mammal, worldwide and is the ancestor of all domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). It occupies almost every habitat and environment and can thrive in prairies, barren ground, grasslands, forests, mountains, tundra, swamps, and deserts. In Europe wolves frequent towns and villages and can withstand extremely fluctuating temperatures everywhere they reside. They are extremely intellectual, social, and can cover large distances in search of food, territories, and mates. All canids are able to swim and wolves do very well in water and they thrive in snow and cold climates. Wolves vary in size from the Northern Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) weighing in at around 150-170 pounds to the much smaller desert dwelling “Lobo” (Canis lupus baileyi) weighing in at around 45-60 pounds. In other parts of the world such as Africa, the Ethiopian Wolf (Canis lupus simensis) is approximately coyote size. Wolves are opportunistic and efficient carnivores feeding, mostly, on ungulates. They are not totally carnivorous as they will, on occasion, eat vegetation. Wolves are a keystone species and since the reintroduction of the gray wolf to Yellowstone in 1995-6 researchers have learned quite a lot about wolves on the landscape and how things can change, over time.
Yearling: An animal that is one year old and not sexually mature. Older than a pup but not as old as a juvenile.
Zoology: The study of animals and their behavior
Zooarchaeology: The study of animals in past history and/or their relationships with humans. An example is the dog burials at
Zoonotic: Any disease or condition that can be transferred from animal to human or from human to animal. An example would be rabies.