Study reveals wild canids favor structured travel routes, unlike their feline counterparts

The next time you observe how your dog visits the same places around your yard, or notice that your cat seems to explore the new area every time it goes outside, think about it: you can witness an ancient evolutionary strategy in action.

Study Published V Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences It shows that on average, wild canides have a greater density of traffic routes, and a greater probability of using routes than wild corners. Headed by researchers of the University of Maryland, a joint study used data about the GPS collar, describing the movements of 1239 individual carnivorous animals in detail, representing 34 species on six continents over the past decade – the largest comparative study of the ecology of carnivorous animals, when the libs were carried out.

“We found that species of carnivorous animals use space in fundamentally different methods,” said the leading scientist, William Fagan, an outstanding professor of biology in UMD. “Dog family members seem much more structured when using space. On average, they are more reliable on favorable travel routes compared to cat family members. ”

Fagan and his employees found that wild members of the dog family – quils, foxes, beds and others – essentially create and adhere to certain travel routes in their territories. But their remote cousins ​​- flattered cells in the family of cats – from loosening to lions and leopards – tend to wander more freely, relying on approved routes.

The results challenge the traditional understanding of scientists of the environmental environment of mammals predators. Historically, the researchers suggested that predators randomly moved in their territories, which was so widespread that it was baked into standard mathematical models. Nevertheless, new conclusions show that many predators create invisible highways systems, which they use repeatedly to pass the parts of their home ranges, possibly partly due to the powerful smoking smile of dog defense.

“We suspect that this split reflects deep evolutionary differences in how these species are oriented and find their way,” Fagan explained. “Canides have higher olfactory abilities compared to Felids, which can help them establish and remember the preferred travel routes. It seems that these various navigation strategies have developed over millions of years since dogs and cats for the last time shared a common ancestor. ”

“Given the inherent heterogeneity in such a large, global set of data, the size and sequence of these differences are striking,” says the senior author of Justin M. Calabraise, the head of the scientific group for land science in Casus in Germany and the adjunct professor in the UMD. “Nevertheless, we were careful to make sure that the differences specific to the line were preserved even after the control of many potentially mixed factors.”

It is interesting that the differences between Canids and Felids actually became stronger when researchers limited their analysis by nine common landscapes, where both Canids and Felids can be studied by removing the influence of variations in the type of vegetation, human “traces” and other landscapes.

Researchers believe that their results have many consequences to improve The preservation of wildlife And the practice of management. Fagan noted that the understanding and expectation of the regularity of animal movement models is crucial for predicting meetings with a person and residential life and organizing nature protection zones, especially for protection Disappearing species From threats such as poachers.

For example, Fagan and Collaboators held a seminar at the UMD research center in mathematics Brin, focused on the connection between the movement, meetings and dynamics of the transmission of diseases, compatibility and predators-writers.

“This study was a massive event, starting with many email exchanges during Covid Pandemia and, ultimately, the data in the world that turns in the world compared to carnivorous animals, including 177 employees around the world. The project demonstrated how modern GPS technologies and complex analysis methods developed by our research group can show the fascinating hidden aspects of animals that were impossible, which was impossible.