Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs, L. David Mech's 1999 paper in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, is the field's leading researcher's own published retraction of the captive-derived alpha wolf model he had earlier helped popularize, showing that wild packs are ordinarily family groups led by the breeding pair rather than by individuals who fought their way to dominance. Its strength is that it is a specialist correcting his own field's most widely repeated error, in a peer reviewed journal with a stable digital identifier. Its limit is that this atlas cites it only for wild wolf pack structure; it makes no claim about the human social or symbolic uses the alpha wolf idea has since taken on elsewhere.
Facts
Citation
AuthorL. David Mech
PublisherCanadian Journal of Zoology, vol. 77
Publication Year1999
URLhttps://doi.org/10.1139/z99-099
Source TypeJournal article
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Reliability tier 1: a peer reviewed paper by the field's leading researcher correcting his own earlier model, in a journal with a stable digital identifier. NotesThe author's own retraction of the captive-derived alpha-wolf model; wild packs are family groups led by the breeding pair.
Claims Backed By This Source (11 claims)
This source backs 11 claims across the atlas. As facts: 10 well-attested. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.
- Animals & Totems, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Articles, 1 claims: 1 well-attested.
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.