Postural differences between the African hunting dog and related carnivores

@tonyrebelo @beartracker @ludwig_muller @jeremygilmore @maxallen @navaneethsinigeorge @kibby

Everyone is familiar with the simple sitting posture of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris, http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/dog-sitting-2866082.jpg) and the wolf (Canis lupus, http://img03.deviantart.net/79e2/i/2011/110/4/2/wolf_sitting_on_stump_by_dogboy09-d3efx0m.jpg and https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-a-timber-wolf-sitting-26515911.html).

So, it is easy to assume that comparable animals, e.g. the African hunting dog (Lycaon pictus) and the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), sit likewise.
 
By ‘sit’, I mean a fully symmetrical posture in which the ventral/posterior surface of the hind foot is fully placed on the ground, and the weight is taken by a combination of this plantar surface and the ischial surfaces.

Most of the photos I have so far found, in the case of the spotted hyena, show an asymmetrical or somewhat slumping posture (https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-spotted-hyena-sitting-in-water-31785958.html?imageid=8CC906AE-05AF-4961-BF24-A9182EE93B66&p=34420&pn=1&searchId=c4d8bda2b7fb4e2775db4866970950d9&searchtype=0 and https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/item/127437946-hyena-queen-sitting-her-den-early-evening-light-spotted-hyen and https://www.dreamstime.com/vertical-shot-hyena-sitting-wilderness-image235315278 and https://www.dreamstime.com/hyena-masai-mara-kenya-sitting-its-ass-game-reserve-kenyan-image158739542 and https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-sitting-hyena-kruger-national-park-south-africa-image80689248 and https://www.dreamstime.com/spotted-hyena-sits-grass-looking-left-image223156760 and https://www.reddit.com/r/hyenas/comments/15joa3/sit_like_a_hyena/ and https://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-193350706/stock-photo-hyena-sitting-on-the-ground-floor-with-bushes-on-the-background).

Note that one foot is sometimes out to the side, not taking the weight. In one case the foot shows 'double-jointed' folding, i.e. with the 'sole' upside down (https://www.flickr.com/photos/patries71/252797257).

I suspect that there is something about the extremely specialised, cursorial limbs of the spotted hyena that make it hard for this species to sit.

In the case of the African hunting dog, I have found two things to be strange, on the topic of a sitting posture

When I searched the Web thoroughly in 2016, for photos of this species sitting, I found virtually none showing adults in this posture. To my surprise, a similar search today produces a considerable number of such photos. Why the change?

Secondly, even today, it is hard to find photos showing adults of the African hunting dog sitting normally, like other members of the family Canidae. Why does Lycaon differ from other canids in this postural way?

Even today, most photos of the African hunting dog in sitting posture are of juveniles.

The following show what seems like a normal sitting posture in the African hunting dog:

https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/african-wild-dog-sitting-front-tree-128441603
https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/wild-painted-dog-sitting-down-1027545244
https://www.dreamstime.com/wild-painted-dog-sitting-down-close-up-image110131503
https://www.canstockphoto.com/painted-dog-52096703.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8070463@N03/51837544496

However, the sitting posture of this species, whether adult or juvenile, tends to resemble that of Crocuta as much as that of Canis:

https://www.dreamstime.com/african-wild-dog-sitting-sand-kruger-national-park-south-africa-image102079814
https://www.agefotostock.com/age/en/details-photo/african-wild-dog-lycaon-pictus-pictus-adult-sitting-in-pool-mana-pools-n-p-mashonaland-zimbabwe-november/FHR-10354-00410-676
https://stock.adobe.com/images/wild-dog-sitting-in-zimanga-game-reserve-in-south-africa/246608345
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/51058824052
https://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-343860691/stock-photo-the-african-wild-dog-%28lycaon-pictus%29%2C-also-african-hunting-or-african-painted-dog%2C-painted-hunting-o
http://www.africaimagelibrary.com/media/1de3c4d0-b080-4a77-a5ef-7285bd4d2985-african-wild-dog-pup-lycaon-pictus-lower-zambezi-national-par
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-african-wild-dog-pup-sitting-on-haunches-cape-hunting-dog-lycaon-pictus-48008749.html
https://stock.adobe.com/images/wild-dog-sitting-in-zimanga-game-reserve-in-south-africa/246608345
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-african-wild-dog-lycaon-pictus-adult-sitting-tswalu-game-reserve-kalahari-82164897.html

It is easy to find photos and videos of the African hunting dog resting. However, it tends to lie down directly, rather than to sit.

Checking Estes (1991), I see that he does not mention any reluctance of the African hunting dog to sit ‘normally’. What he does mention is that “Healthy adult ungulates can outrun wolves, whereas African wild dogs regularly run the fleetest antelopes to exhaustion.”

The dhole (Cuon alpinus) is an Asian counterpart to the African hunting dog. Photos show that it is typically canine in its sitting posture, which seems normal.

http://static1.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/8/1/8/large2/8182923.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Cuon_alpinus_alpinus_sitting.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cuon_alpinus_alpinus_sitting.jpg
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/dhole-sneeuw-11718839.jpg
https://nickgarbutt.photoshelter.com/image/I0000G71vkvCX37Q
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sitting_and_watching_dhole,_AJT_Johnsingh._DSCN7771.jpg
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/asie-inde-maharashtra-parc-national-de-tadoba-dhole-ou-cuon-news-photo/967577536?adppopup=true
https://stock.adobe.com/images/indian-wild-dog-dhole-cuon-alpinus-sitting-bandhavgarh-national-park-madhya-pradesh-india/167922650
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/99/64/fb/9964fb8d041928ce93e851eec86509e7.jpg
https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/dhole-royalty-free-image/157648230?adppopup=true
https://www.dreamstime.com/dhole-sitting-log-tree-trunk-image208403991
http://tenrandomfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Dhole.jpg
http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000G71vkvCX37Q/s/880/880/dhole-dog-wild-India-Kanha.jpg

There are several other convergences between Crocuta and Lycaon. So, my preliminary interpretation is that the African hunting dog is more specialised for cursoriality than the wolf or the dhole, and somewhat like the spotted hyena in this way.

However, the African hunting dog differs from the spotted hyena - and most canids - in frequently standing upright bipedally in vigilance (https://blog.londolozi.com/2018/01/03/7-things-you-need-to-know-about-wild-dogs/ and https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/302093087501996764/?mt=login and https://www.kimballstock.com/preview.asp?db=a&image=AFW+14+MH0008+01 and https://www.natureinstock.com/search/preview/african-wild-dog-lycaon-pictus-standing-upright-on-hind-legs-kruger/0_00113054.html and scroll in https://www.travelawaits.com/2685212/reasons-private-safari-is-worth-the-money/ and https://www.alamy.com/a-wild-dog-lycaon-pictus-stands-up-on-its-hind-legs-image435686917.html).

Standing bipedally is a posture that I have yet to see in the spotted hyena.

I conclude, tentatively, that

• all canids other than the African hunting dog sit in a normal way, and
• the African hunting dog and the spotted hyena resemble each other in finding it uncomfortable to sit in the normal way, but
• the African hunting dog differs from both other canids and the spotted hyena in frequently standing bipedally.

Publicado el julio 10, 2022 09:55 MAÑANA por milewski