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Article: Seasonal differences in field metabolism, water requirements, and foraging behavior of free-living aardwolves.
- Article from:
- Ecology
- Article date:
- December 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Ecological Society of America. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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INTRODUCTION
Aardwolves (Proteles cristatus) are solitary, nocturnal, medium-sized (7-10 kg) mammals that occur in east-central and southern Africa, typically in regions of arid and semiarid grasslands, including the Kalahari Desert and some parts of the hyperarid Namib Desert (Skinner and Smithers 1990). Throughout much of their range they are exposed to seasonal temperature extremes, hot summer days, cold winter nights, and brief pulses of rainfall punctuated by long dry spells. Although their taxonomic status remains controversial (Ewer 1973, Meester et al. 1986, Skinner and Smithers 1990), the consensus is that aardwolves belong to the Hyaenidae (Wayne et al. ...