microrobert
03-16-2013, 05:23 AM
Young Adult Prairie Dogs Dig Living In Mom's Basement
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/03/07/hoogland8hr-80aabd85b0baf99fc0be2998797f345fbe21424a-s3.jpg
Like many humans, most young animals approaching adulthood tend to leave their parents and siblings and strike out on their own. They want to avoid competing with relatives. They want to avoid incest. In certain species, they want to avoid nagging.
But a new paper published in Thursday's Science (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1205) shows there's at least one species that bucks this trend. Prairie dogs, especially female prairie dogs, stay home. They tend to only leave their native territories when all of their relatives are gone.
The paper's author, John Hoogland (http://www.umces.edu/al/people/jhoogland), didn't notice the pattern for decades, and that's surprising. He knows prairie dogs better than almost anyone.
"Frequently I refer to prairie dogs as my little people," Hoogland says. "They have distinct personalities, just the way people do."
Young Adult Prairie Dogs Dig Living In Mom's Basement : NPR (http://www.npr.org/2013/03/08/173758005/adult-prairie-dogs-dig-living-in-moms-burrow)
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/03/07/hoogland8hr-80aabd85b0baf99fc0be2998797f345fbe21424a-s3.jpg
Like many humans, most young animals approaching adulthood tend to leave their parents and siblings and strike out on their own. They want to avoid competing with relatives. They want to avoid incest. In certain species, they want to avoid nagging.
But a new paper published in Thursday's Science (http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1205) shows there's at least one species that bucks this trend. Prairie dogs, especially female prairie dogs, stay home. They tend to only leave their native territories when all of their relatives are gone.
The paper's author, John Hoogland (http://www.umces.edu/al/people/jhoogland), didn't notice the pattern for decades, and that's surprising. He knows prairie dogs better than almost anyone.
"Frequently I refer to prairie dogs as my little people," Hoogland says. "They have distinct personalities, just the way people do."
Young Adult Prairie Dogs Dig Living In Mom's Basement : NPR (http://www.npr.org/2013/03/08/173758005/adult-prairie-dogs-dig-living-in-moms-burrow)