When it comes to navigation of nature, dogs and cats have different game plans. While dogs, as a rule, sniff out in familiar places, cats are more freely pirates and study new places. Movies of the movement of our pets are deep in their evolutionary history, emphasizing the contrast in how they cross in the fresh air.
New study Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences He checked the travels of predators -mammals, such as wild cats and dogs, explaining why these animals move like them. The biggest conclusion is that wild canides usually adhere to the established routes, while wild corners roam wherever they like.
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Traveling wild cats and dogs
Many animals are always in motion in the desert, moving from one site to another in search of food or in the right place for propagation. But all of them have their preferred movement strategies based on factors such as the type of landscape and interaction with predators.
These strategies are in the center of a new study that illustrated the styles of navigation of predators around the world. The study was based on data about the GPS collar in order to explore the movements of 1239 individual carnivorous animals representing 34 species on six continents, which makes it the largest comparative study of the ecology of the movement of carnivorous animals, when the libs were carried out, according to, according to Press statementField
The study was focused on the movements of wild kanks and wild swamps, which have various navigation styles. To study these movements, the researchers created the “probability crests”, which indicated how often the animal repeatedly crosses the area with similar trajectories.
This method showed that canides (for example, wolves, foxes and coyotes) had a greater density of traffic routes and a greater probability of using routes than Felids (Like Bobcats, Lions, Leopards).
“We found that the species of carnivorous animals use the space in principle in the same way,” said the leading author William Fagan, a biologist from the University of Maryland. “Dog family members seem much more structured in their use of space. On average, they are more reliable on favorable travel routes compared to cat family members. ”
Navigation with a nose
Researchers say that historically, the idea that mammalian predators randomly move throughout the territories was a widespread point of view in the field of movement ecology, was even included in mathematical models.
Nevertheless, a new study destroys this point of view and demonstrates how carnivorous animals install invisible “highways” that they often use. This strategy can be widespread in Canids from their unsurpassed sense of smell, features that are not so impressive in Felids.
“We suspect that this split reflects deep evolutionary differences in how these species are oriented and find their way,” Fagan said. “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. ”
The treacherous path to follow
The use of routes in Canids can help them face prey, but at the same time this navigation strategy also has some potential consequences. The most pressing of them are associated with human interactions.
Preferred travel routes can sometimes interfere with a coincidence with human activity – for example, when roads or fences stretch along the route. In addition, poaching with traps or traps can pose a threat to species that follow predictable routes. Nevertheless, one silver lining is that these problems can be solved by building wildlife corridors that direct animals, while maintaining their safety.
Thromens often recognize the risk of meeting people, adapting them through their movements. 2022 study V Ecology of movement It was found that such carnivorous animals as wolves and bears Grisli increase the speed of their movement near the cities and areas of the high path and road density, which they probably do to avoid people.
The use of knowledge about animal movement models can ultimately help strengthen the conservation efforts, which will allow you to have safe travels in their own habitats.
Read more: Why do cats bring rodents home as gifts? Most likely, then have a bite
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