Goes to show that Scientific ideas are free to change when more information is available. There is no "consensus" in true Science.
Wildlife research biologist David Mech (pronounced Meech) was the guy who brought the idea of a pack leader or Alpha when he was studying wolves.
Now, it seems that the idea of Alpha only applies to artificial populations in Zoos and game reserves:
Outmoded notion of the alpha wolf The concept of the alpha wolf is well ingrained in the popular wolf literature at least partly because of my book "The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species," written in 1968, published in 1970, republished in paperback in 1981, and currently still in print, despite my numerous pleas to the publisher to stop publishing it. Although most of the book's info is still accurate, much is outdated. We have learned more about wolves in the last 40 years then in all of previous history.
One of the outdated pieces of information is the concept of the alpha wolf. "Alpha" implies competing with others and becoming top dog by winning a contest or battle. However, most wolves who lead packs achieved their position simply by mating and producing pups, which then became their pack. In other words they are merely breeders, or parents, and that's all we call them today, the "breeding male," "breeding female," or "male parent," "female parent," or the "adult male" or "adult female." In the rare packs that include more than one breeding animal, the "dominant breeder" can be called that, and any breeding daughter can be called a "subordinate breeder."
Fascinating stuff...
Hat tip to Atomic Nerds for the link.
Posted by DaveH at August 27, 2009 9:42 AM