The Black-tailed Prairie Dog: Social Life of a Burrowing Mammal

John L. Hoogland draws on 16 years of research at Wind Cave Na tional Park, South Dakota, in the United States, to provide this account of prairie dog social behaviour. Through comparisons with more than 300 other animal species, he offers new insights into basic theory in behavioural ecology and sociobiology. Hoogland documents interactions within, and among, families of prairie dogs to examine the advantages and disadvantages of coloniality. By addressing such topics as male and female reproductive success, inbreeding, kin recognition and infanticide, Hoogland offers a broad view of conflict and co-operation. Among his surprising findings is that prairie dog females sometimes suckle, and at other times kill, the offspring of close kin. Enhanced by more than 100 photographs, this book illuminates the social organization of a burrowing mammal and raises fundamental questions about current theory. It should be of interest not only to mammalogists and other vertebrate biologists, but also students of behavioural and evolutionary ecology.