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The Comparative Behavioral Ecology of Hyenas: The Importance of Diet and Food Dispersion

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Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution

Abstract

A close relationship between diet and food-dispersion patterns, on the one hand, and behavior and social organization, on the other, was first recorded in birds by Crook (1965). Subsequently, this relationship has been studied in a range of mammals: in bats (Bradbury and Vehrencamp 1976), in antelope (Jarman 1974), in primates as reviewed by Clutton-Brock and Harvey (1977), and in carnivores as reviewed by Macdonald (1983) and Bekoff et al. (1984). The hyaenids are highly suited for studies of this nature; they show a wide range of ecological and behavioral adaptations and social organizations (Kruuk 1975; Mills 1978a, 1984) and constitute only four extant species of three genera.

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Authors
  1. M. G. L. Mills
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Graduate Programs in Ecology and Ethology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

    John L. Gittleman

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© 1989 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Mills, M.G.L. (1989). The Comparative Behavioral Ecology of Hyenas: The Importance of Diet and Food Dispersion. In: Gittleman, J.L. (eds) Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4716-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4716-4_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-34360-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4716-4

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