Feral asses ( Equus africanus): intraspecific variation in social organization in arid and mesic habitats

Abstract

Feral asses have been studied in the arid habitats of the southwestern United States [Moehlman, P.D., 1974. Behavior and ecology of feral asses ( Equus asinus). PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 251 pp.; Moehlman, P.D., 1979. Behavior and ecology of feral asses ( Equus asinus). Nat. Geogr. Soc. Res. Reports 1970, 405–411.; Woodward, S.L., 1979. The social system of feral asses ( Equus asinus). Z. Tierpsychol. 49, 304–316] and in the mesic habitat of Ossabaw Island, Georgia [Moehlman, P.D., 1979, ibid; McCort, W.D., 1980. The feral asses ( Equus asinus) of Ossabaw Island, Georgia. PhD dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 219 pp]. The feral ass populations in these two locales exhibited intraspecific variation in polygynous mating systems and social organization which were consistent with the ecological classification of mating systems of Emlen and Oring (1977) [Emlen, S.T., Oring, S.W., 1977. Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197 (4300), 215–223]. Feral asses in the arid environment have a `resource defense' polygynous mating system, and those in the mesic habitat exhibit `female (harem) defense' polygyny. The intraspecific variation observed in feral asses encompasses the interspecific variation observed in the family Equidae.