Susan Lingle University of Lethbridge, Canada Title When prey fight back: the ecology and evolution of antipredator behaviour in deer Abstract In this seminar, I will use the example of aggressive antipredator defence in deer to probe the evolution of this behaviour and its ecological implications. I will introduce you to a system having two species of deer that have many similarities but completely different ways of dealing with predators. One species, white-tailed deer, relies more on flight whereas the other, mule deer, relies on an unusually cooperative form of aggressive defence. I will use observations of coyotes hunting deer, playback experiments and long-term survival data to address three main questions: 1. How does variation in aggressive defence affect the vulnerability of fawns early in life? 2. Why do mule deer females actively defend fawns that are not their own offspring and may not even belong to the same species? 3. How do temporal and species differences in vulnerability to predators shape seasonal and annual predation rates on prey? Do these results shed light on selection pressures shaping prey defences? CV 1998 Ph.D. Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK 1989 M.E.Des, Environmental Science, University of Calgary, Canada 1980 B.A. Anthropology, Pomona College, Claremont, California, USA Professional experience 2002-2005 Alberta Ingenuity Postdoctoral Fellowship. Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada 1999 to present McIntyre Ranch Coyote & Deer Project (Alberta, Canada). Established and maintain long-term project investigating the behaviour and ecology of coyotes, deer, and alternative species of prey. 1989-1992 Research Associate, University of Calgary, Canada. 1981-1983 Research Assistant on behavioural ecology studies in eastern and southern Africa (baboons, several antelope species). Research interests I am interested in the evolution of prey defences and intertwined patterns of social behaviour and parental care. I also examine how interactions between individual predators and prey give rise to relationships between predators and prey and to relationships amongst coexisting species of prey. My work has focused on a system having coyotes as a predator and two species of deer as prey. I have had unique opportunities to observe coyote packs as they hunt deer and other prey. Selected recent publications Lingle, S., D. Rendall & S.M. Pellis. 2007, In press, a. Altruism and recognition in the antipredator defence of deer: I. Species and individual variation in fawn distress calls. Animal Behaviour. Lingle, S., D. Rendall, W.F. Wilson, R.W. DeYoung & S.M. Pellis. 2007, In press, b. Altruism and recognition in the antipredator defence of deer: II. Why mule deer help non-offspring fawns. Animal Behaviour. Lingle, S., S.M. Pellis & W.F. Wilson. 2005. Interspecific variation in antipredator behaviour leads to differential vulnerability of mule deer and white-tailed deer fawns to coyote predation early in life. Journal of Animal Ecology 74, 1140-1149. Lingle, S. 2002. Coyote predation and habitat segregation of white-tailed deer and mule deer. Ecology 83, 2037-2048. Lingle, S. & S.M. Pellis. 2002. Fight or flight? Antipredator behavior and escalation of coyote encounters with deer. Oecologia 131, 154-164. Lingle, S. 2001. Antipredator strategies and grouping patterns in white-tailed deer and mule deer. Ethology 107, 295-314. Lingle, S. 2000. Seasonal variation in coyote feeding behaviour and mortality of white-tailed deer and mule deer. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78, 85-99. Institution address Susan Lingle Department of Psychology University of Lethbridge Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4 Canada susan.lingle@uleth.ca