Researchers examined 26 years of wolf behavioral data and analyzed the blood of 229 wolves, which were found to be infected with the parasite. toxoplasma gondii Wolves are 46 times more likely to be pack leaders.
This study shows that the impact of this parasite in the wild is horribly understudied, and that its role in ecosystems and animal behavior is underestimated.
If you own a cat, you’ve probably heard of this parasite. This microorganism can only reproduce sexually in cats, but it can infect and reproduce in almost all warm-blooded animals.
This includes humans, who can cause symptoms that are usually subclinical (but still potentially deadly) is a parasitic disease called toxoplasmosis.
If you move to another host, you will need to T. Gondi If the parasites don’t want to reach an evolutionary dead end, they need to find a way to get their offspring back into the cat’s body. And it has some kind of creepy way of maximizing that potential.
animals such as mouse or rat Once infected with the parasite, they begin to take more risks, and in some cases actually become fatally attracted to the smell of cat urine, increasing their chances of being killed by the parasite.
For large animals, e.g. chimpanzeewhich means an increased risk of encounters with large cats such as leopards. The hyena was infected with T. Gondi It is also more likely that killed by a lion.
gray wolf (canis lupus) Cats in Yellowstone National Park are not exactly cat prey. However, sometimes their territory overlaps with that of cougars (PUma Concolor), known carriers T. Gondiand both species prey on elk (Deer canadensis), bison (bison bison), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) That’s there too.
Wolves can also become infected, perhaps by occasionally eating dead cougars or ingesting cougar feces.
Approximately 27 years of data collected on wolves and their behavior provided a unique opportunity to study the effects of parasites on wildlife. Intermediate host.
The researchers, led by Yellowstone Wolf Project biologists Connor Meyer and Kira Cassidy, also examined blood samples from wolves and cougars to measure infection rates. T. Gondi infection.
They found that wolves with more territory that overlapped with cougars were more likely to infect them. T. Gondi.
But there was also a behavioral effect: a significant increase in risk-taking.
Infected wolves were 11 times more likely to disperse from the pack to new territory. Infected males had a 50 percent chance of leaving the herd within six months, compared to 21 months for uninfected males.
Similarly, infected females had a 25% chance of leaving the herd within 30 months, compared to 48 months for uninfected females.
Infected wolves were also much more likely to become pack leaders. T. Gondi Testosterone levels may increase, resulting in increased aggression and dominance, traits that help wolves establish themselves as pack leaders.
This has several important implications. The herd leader is the one who breeds; T. Gondi The transmission is congenital and may be passed from mother to offspring. But it can also affect the dynamics of the entire pack.
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“The gregarious structure of gray wolf packs gives pack leaders disproportionate influence over pack members and group decisions.” The researchers write in their paper:.
“If the lead wolf is infected, T. Gondi and exhibit changes in behavior…this can create a dynamic in which parasite-induced behavior in one wolf affects the rest of the wolves in the pack. ”
For example, suppose a herd leader is looking for: cougar pee smell As we boldly take on new challenges, They may be exposed to more parasites, resulting in higher rates of T. Gondi The infection spreads throughout the wolves. This creates a kind of feedback loop that increases duplication and infection.
This is compelling evidence that small, poorly studied factors can have large effects on ecosystem dynamics.
“This study shows how community-level interactions can influence individual behavior, potentially scaling up to population-level decision-making, population biology, and community ecology. “This shows that it may be possible to improve write.
“Incorporating the effects of parasitic infections into future wildlife research is essential to understanding the effects of parasites on individuals, populations, populations, and ecosystem processes.”
This research communication biology.
A previous version of this article was published in November 2022.