Dingo

from New Holland'' by George Stubbs, 1772. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. The name "dingo" comes from the Dharug language used by the Indigenous Australians of the Sydney area. Some authors propose that a difference existed between camp dingoes and wild dingoes as they had different names among Aboriginal Australian peoples. The people of the Yarralin, Northern Territory, region frequently call those dingoes that live with them walaku, and those that live in the wilderness ngurakin. They also use the name walaku to refer to both dingoes and dogs. The colonial settlers of New South Wales used the name dingo only for camp dogs. It is proposed that in New South Wales the camp dingoes became wild only after the colonial destruction of Aboriginal society. ==Taxonomy==

to Botany Bay'' in 1788 Recent DNA sequencing of a 'pure' wild dingo from South Australia suggests that the dingo has a different DNA methylation pattern from the German Shepherd. In 2024, a study found that the Dingo and New Guinea singing dog show 5.5% genome introgression from the ancestor of the recently extinct Japanese wolf, with Japanese dogs showing 4% genome introgression. This introgression occurred before the ancestor of the Japanese wolf arrived in Japan. Domestic status The dingo is regarded as a feral dog because it descended from domesticated ancestors. In 2020, a genetic study found that the New Guinea Highland wild dogs were sister to the dingo and the New Guinea singing dog. ==Description==

The dingo is a medium-sized canid with a lean, hardy body that is adapted for speed, agility, and stamina. The head is the widest part of the body, wedge-shaped, and large in proportion to the body. Compared with the dog, the dingo is able to rotate its wrists and can turn doorknobs or raise latches in order to escape confinement. Dingo shoulder joints are unusually flexible, and they can climb fences, cliffs, trees, and rocks. These adaptations help dingoes climbing in difficult terrain, where they prefer high vantage points. A similar adaptation can be found in the Norwegian Lundehund, which was developed on isolated Norwegian islands to hunt in cliff and rocky areas. Wolves do not have this ability. Compared with the skull of the dog, the dingo possesses a longer muzzle, longer carnassial teeth, longer and more slender canine teeth, larger auditory bullae, a flatter cranium with a larger sagittal crest, and larger nuchal lines. In 2014, a study was conducted on pre-20th century dingo specimens that are unlikely to have been influenced by later hybridisation. The dingo skull was found to differ relative to the domestic dog by its larger palatal width, longer rostrum, shorter skull height, and wider sagittal crest. However, this was rebutted with the figures falling within the wider range of the domestic dog and that each dog breed differs from the others in skull measurements. Based on a comparison with the remains of a dingo found at Fromme's Landing, the dingo's skull and skeleton have not changed over the past 3,000 years. Compared to the wolf, the dingo possesses a paedomorphic cranium similar to domestic dogs. However, the dingo has a larger brain size compared to dogs of the same body weight, with the dingo being more comparable with the wolf than dogs are. In this respect, the dingo resembles two similar mesopredators, the dhole and the coyote. The eyes are triangular (or almond-shaped) and are hazel to dark in colour with dark rims. The ears are erect and occur high on the skull. Coat colour The dingo's three main coat colours are described as being light ginger (or tan), black and tan, and creamy white. The ginger colour ranges from a deep rust to a pale cream and can be found in 74% of dingoes. Often, small white markings are seen on the tip of the tail, the feet, and the chest, but with no large white patches. Some do not exhibit white tips. The black and tan dingoes possess a black coat with a tan muzzle, chest, belly, legs, and feet and can be found in 12% of dingoes. Solid white can be found in 2% of dingoes and solid black 1%. Only three genes affect coat colour in the dingo compared with nine genes in the domestic dog. The ginger colour is dominant and carries the other three main colours – black, tan, and white. White dingoes breed true, and black and tan dingoes breed true; when these cross, the result is a sandy colour. The coat is not oily, nor does it have a dog-like odour. The dingo has a single coat in the tropical north of Australia and a double thick coat in the cold mountains of the south, the undercoat being a wolf-grey colour. Patchy and brindle coat colours can be found in dingoes with no dog ancestry and these colours are less common in dingoes of mixed ancestry. Tail The dingo's tail is flattish, tapering after mid-length and does not curve over the back, but is carried low. Gait When walking, the dingo's rear foot steps in line with the front foot, and these do not possess dewclaws. Lifespan Dingoes in the wild live 3–5 years with few living past 7–8 years. Some have been recorded living up to 10 years. In captivity, they live for 14–16 years. One dingo has been recorded to live just under 20 years. ==Adaptation==

Hybrids, distribution and habitat (black line) may have a higher prevalence of dingo–dog hybrids. The wolf-like canids are a group of large carnivores that are genetically closely related because their chromosomes number 78; therefore they can potentially interbreed to produce fertile hybrids. The dingoes can outrun the sheep and the sheep were defenceless. However, the dingoes in general appeared not to be motivated to kill sheep, and in many cases just loped alongside the sheep before veering off to chase another sheep. For those that did kill and consume sheep, a large quantity of kangaroo was still in their diet, indicating once again a preference for kangaroo. ==Communication==

Like all domestic dogs, dingoes tend towards phonetic communication. However, in contrast to domestic dogs, dingoes howl and whimper more, and bark less. Eight sound classes with 19 sound types have been identified. Australian dingoes bark mainly in swooshing noises or in a mixture of atonal and tonal sounds. In addition, barking is almost exclusively used for giving warnings. Warn-barking in a homotypical sequence and a kind of "warn-howling" in a heterotypical sequence have also been observed. The bark-howling starts with several barks and then fades into a rising and ebbing howl and is probably (similar to coughing) used to warn the puppies and members of the pack. Additionally, dingoes emit a sort of "wailing" sound, which they mostly use when approaching a watering hole, probably to warn already present dingoes. According to the present state of knowledge, getting Australian dingoes to bark more frequently by putting them in contact with other domestic dogs is not possible. However, German zoologist Alfred Brehm reported a dingo that learned the more "typical" form of barking and how to use it, while its brother did not. Whether dingoes bark or bark-howl less frequently in general is not certain. Howling Dingoes have three basic forms of howling (moans, bark-howls, and snuffs) with at least 10 variations. Usually, three kinds of howls are distinguished: long and persistent, rising and ebbing, and short and abrupt. Observations have shown that each kind of howling has several variations, though their purpose is unknown. The frequency of howling varies with the season and time of day, and is also influenced by breeding, migration, lactation, social stability, and dispersal behaviour. Howling can be more frequent in times of food shortage, because the dogs become more widely distributed within their home range. Moreover, their highly variable chorus howls have been proposed to generate a confounding effect in the receivers by making pack size appear larger. Other forms Growling, making up about 65% of the vocalisations, is used in an agonistic context for dominance, and as a defensive sound. Similar to many domestic dogs, a reactive usage of defensive growling is only rarely observed. Growling very often occurs in combination with other sounds, and has been observed almost exclusively in swooshing noises (similar to barking). ==Behaviour==

Dingoes tend to be nocturnal in warmer regions, but less so in cooler areas. Their main period of activity is around dusk and dawn, making them a crepuscular species in the colder climates. The periods of activity are short (often less than 1 hour) with short times of resting. Dingoes have two kinds of movement: a searching movement (apparently associated with hunting) and an exploratory movement (probably for contact and communication with other dogs). According to studies in Queensland, the wild dogs (dingo hybrids) there move freely at night through urban areas and cross streets and seem to get along quite well. Social behaviour The dingo's social behaviour is about as flexible as that of a coyote or grey wolf, which is perhaps one of the reasons the dingo was originally believed to have descended from the Indian wolf. While young males are often solitary and nomadic in nature, breeding adults often form a settled pack. However, in areas of the dingo's habitat with a widely spaced population, breeding pairs remain together, apart from others. The average monthly pack size was noted to be between three and 12 members. Similar to other canids, a dingo pack largely consists of a mated pair, their current year's offspring, and occasionally a previous year's offspring. Subordinate dingoes approach a more dominant dog in a slightly crouched posture, ears flat, and tail down, to ensure peace in the pack. Males are virile throughout the year in most regions, but have a lower sperm production during the summer in most cases. During studies on dingoes from the Eastern Highlands and Central Australia in captivity, no specific breeding cycle could be observed. All were potent throughout the year. The breeding was only regulated by the heat of the females. A rise in testosterone was observed in the males during the breeding season, but this was attributed to the heat of the females and copulation. In contrast to the captive dingoes, captured dingo males from Central Australia did show evidence of a male breeding cycle. Those dingoes showed no interest in females in heat (this time other domestic dogs) outside the mating season (January to July) and did not breed with them. The mating season usually occurs in Australia between March and May (according to other sources between April and June). During this time, dingoes may actively defend their territories using vocalisations, dominance behaviour, growling, and barking. The gestation period lasts for 61–69 days and the size of the litter can range from 1 to 10 (usually 5) pups, with the number of males born tending to be higher than that of females. Pups of subordinate females usually get killed by the alpha female, which causes the population increase to be low even in good times. This behaviour possibly developed as an adaptation to the fluctuating environmental conditions in Australia. Pups are usually born between May and August (the winter period), but in tropical regions, breeding can occur at any time of the year. Young dingoes usually become independent at the age of 3–6 months or they disperse at the age of 10 months, when the next mating season starts. Migration Dingoes usually remain in one area and do not undergo seasonal migrations. However, during times of famine, even in normally "safe" areas, dingoes travel into pastoral areas, where intensive, human-induced control measures are undertaken. In Western Australia in the 1970s, young dogs were found to travel for long distances when necessary. About 10% of the dogs captured—all younger than 12 months—were later recaptured far away from their first location. Among these, the average travelled distance for males was and for females . Therefore, travelling dingoes had lower chances of survival in foreign territories, and they are apparently unlikely to survive long migrations through occupied territories. The rarity of long migration routes seemed to confirm this. During investigations in the Nullarbor Plain, even longer migration routes were recorded. The longest recorded migration route of a radio-collared dingo was about . Attacks on humans Dingoes generally avoid conflict with humans, but they are large enough to be dangerous. Most attacks involve people feeding wild dingoes, particularly on K'gari (formerly Fraser Island), which is a special centre of dingo-related tourism. The vast majority of dingo attacks are minor in nature, but some can be major, and a few have been fatal: the death of two-month-old Azaria Chamberlain in the Northern Territory in 1980 is one of them. ==Impact==

Ecological Extinction of thylacines Some researchers propose that the dingo caused the extirpation of the thylacine, the Tasmanian devil, and the Tasmanian native hen from mainland Australia because of the correlation in space and time with the dingo's arrival. Recent studies have questioned this proposal, suggesting that climate change and increasing human populations may have been the cause. Dingoes do not seem to have had the same ecological impact that invasive red foxes have in modern times. This might be connected to the dingo's way of hunting and the size of their favoured prey, as well as to the low number of dingoes in the time before European colonisation. In 2017, a genetic study found that the population of the northwestern dingoes had commenced expanding since 4,000—6,000 years ago. This was proposed to be due either to their first arrival in Australia or to the commencement of the extinction of the thylacine, with the dingo expanding into the thylacine's former range. According to David Jenkins, a research fellow at Charles Sturt University, the breeding and reintroduction of pure dingoes is no easy option and, as of 2007, there were no studies that seriously dealt with this topic, especially in areas where dingo populations are already present. Interactions with other animals Much of the present place of dingoes in the Australian ecosystem, especially in the urban areas, remains unknown. Although the ecological role of dingoes in Northern and Central Australia is well understood, the same does not apply to the role of those in the east of the continent. In contrast to some claims, dingoes are assumed to have a positive impact on biodiversity in areas where feral foxes are present. Recently, the largest known population of critically endangered night parrots was discovered in an area kept free of introduced predators by dingoes. Dingoes have also been recorded regularly visiting the termite mound nests of another endangered species, the golden-shouldered parrot, with successful fledging of these parrots noted by researchers as evidence that dingoes actively drive other predators from the area. Dingoes are regarded as apex predators and perform a key ecological function within the Australian continent. Increasingly, scientific evidence is proving they control the diversity of the ecosystem by limiting the population of prey species and keeping competition in check. Dingoes hunt feral livestock such as goats and pigs, as well as other introduced animals and native wildlife species. The low number of feral goats in Northern Australia is possibly caused by the presence of the dingoes, but whether they control the goats' numbers is still disputable. Studies from 1995 in the northern wet forests of Australia found the dingoes there did not reduce the number of feral pigs, but their predation only affects the pig population together with the presence of water buffaloes (which hinder the pigs' access to food). Observations concerning the interaction between dingoes and populations of red fox and feral cats suggest dingoes limit the access of these predators to certain resources. As a result, a reduction in dingo population may cause an increase of red fox and feral cat numbers, and therefore, a higher pressure on native animals. These studies found the presence of dingoes is one of the factors that keep fox numbers in an area low, and therefore reduces pressure on native animals, which then do not disappear from the area. The countrywide numbers of red foxes are especially high where dingo numbers are low, but other factors might be responsible for this, depending on the area. Evidence was found for a competition between dingoes and red foxes in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, since many overlaps occurred in the spectrum of preferred prey, but only evidence for local competition, not on a grand scale, was found. Dingoes can coexist with red foxes and feral cats without reducing their numbers in areas with sufficient food resources (for example, high rabbit numbers) and hiding places. Very little is known about the relationships between dingoes and feral cats, except that both tend to live in the same areas. Although dingoes are also known to eat cats, whether this significantly affects the cat populations is unclear. Therefore, many conservationists suggest that dingo numbers should be allowed to increase, or dingoes reintroduced in areas with low dingo populations, to lower the pressure on endangered populations of native species and to aid reintroduction of these species in certain areas. In addition, the presence of the Australian brushturkey in Queensland increased significantly after dingo baiting was conducted. The dingo's habitat covers most of Australia, but they are largely absent in the southeast and Tasmania, and an area in the southwest (see map). dingoes prey on mammals up to the size of the large red kangaroo, in addition to the grey kangaroo, wombat, wallaby, quoll, possum and most other marsupials; they frequently pursue birds, lizards, fish, crabs, crayfish, eels, snakes, frogs, young crocodiles, larger insects, snails, carrion, human refuse, Some of the early European settlers looked on dingoes as domestic dogs, while others thought they were more like wolves. Over the years, dingoes began to attack sheep, and their relationship to the Europeans changed very quickly; they were regarded as devious and cowardly, since they did not fight bravely in the eyes of the Europeans, and vanished into the bush. Additionally, they were seen as promiscuous or as devils with a venomous bite or saliva, so they could be killed unreservedly. Over the years, dingo trappers gained some prestige for their work, especially when they managed to kill hard-to-catch dingoes. Dingoes were associated with thieves, vagabonds, bushrangers, and parliamentary opponents. From the 1960s, politicians began calling their opponents "dingo", meaning they were cowardly and treacherous, and it has become a popular form of attack since then. Today, the word "dingo" still stands for "coward" and "cheat", with verb and adjective forms used, as well. to the demonic. Ceremonies (like a keen at the Cape York Peninsula in the form of howling) One researcher has stated that for cattle stations where dingoes were controlled, kangaroos were abundant, and this affects the availability of grass. Domestic dogs are the only terrestrial predators in Australia that are big enough to kill fully grown sheep, and only a few sheep manage to recover from the severe injuries. In the case of lambs, death can have many causes apart from attacks by predators, which are blamed for the deaths because they eat from the carcasses. Although attacks by red foxes are possible, such attacks are more rare than previously thought. According to a survey among cattle owners in 1995, performed by the Park and Wildlife Service, owners estimated their annual losses due to wild dogs (depending on the district) to be from 1.6% to 7.1%. In 2018, a study in northern South Australia indicates that fetal/calf loss averages 18.6%, with no significant reduction due to dingo baiting. The calf losses did not correlate with increased dingo activity, and the cattle diseases pestivirus and leptospirosis were a major cause. Dingoes then scavenged on the carcasses. There was also evidence of dingo predation on calves. ==Legal status==

zoo The dingo is recognised as a native animal under the laws of all Australian jurisdictions. Australia has over 500 national parks of which all but six are managed by the states and territories. , the legal status of the dingo varies between these jurisdictions and in some instances it varies between different regions of a single jurisdiction. some of these jurisdictions classify dingoes as an invasive native. • Australian government: Section 528 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 defines a native species as one that was present in Australia before the year 1400. The dingo is protected in all Australian government managed national parks and reserves, World Heritage Areas, and other protected areas. • Australian Capital Territory: The dingo is listed as a "pest animal" outside national parks and reserves in the Pest Plants and Animals (Pest Animals) Declaration 2016 (No 1) made under the Pest Plants and Animals Act 2005, which calls for a management plan for pest animals. The Nature Conservation Act 2014 protects native animals in national parks and reserves but excludes this protection to "pest animals" declared under the Pest Plants and Animals Act 2005. • New South Wales: The dingo falls under the definition of "wildlife" under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 however it also becomes "unprotected fauna" under Schedule 11 of the act. The Wild Dog Destruction Act (1921) applies only to the western division of the state and includes the dingo in its definition of "wild dogs". The act requires landowners to destroy any wild dogs on their property and any person owning a dingo or half-bred dingo without a permit faces a fine. In other parts of the state, dingoes can be kept as pets under the Companion Animals Act 1998 as a dingo is defined under this act as a "dog". The dingo has been proposed for listing under the Threatened Species Conservation Act because it is argued that these dogs had established populations before the arrival of Europeans, but no decision has been made. • Northern Territory: The dingo is a "vertebrate that is indigenous to Australia" and therefore "protected wildlife" under the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2014. A permit is required for all matters dealing with protected wildlife. • Queensland: The dingo is listed as "least concern wildlife" in the Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 2006 under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, therefore the dingo is protected in National Parks and conservation areas. The dingo is listed as a "pest" in the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Regulation 2003 under the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 2002, which requires land owners to take reasonable steps to keep their lands free of pests. • South Australia: The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 defines a protected animal as one that is indigenous to Australia but then lists the dingo as an "unprotected species" under Schedule 11. The purpose of the Dog Fence Act 1946 is to prevent wild dogs entering into the pastoral and agricultural areas south of the dog-proof fence. The dingo is listed as a "wild dog" under this act, and landowners are required to maintain the fence and destroy any wild dog within the vicinity of the fence by shooting, trapping or baiting. The dingo is listed as an "unprotected species" in the Natural Resources Management Act 2004, which allows landowners to lay baits "to control animals" on their land just north of the dog fence. • Tasmania: Tasmania does not have a native dingo population. The dingo is listed as a "restricted animal" in the Nature Conservation Act 2002 and cannot be imported without a permit. Once imported into Tasmania, a dingo is listed as a dog under the Dog Control Act 2000. • Victoria: The dingo is a "vertebrate taxon" that is "indigenous" to Australia and therefore "wildlife" under the Wildlife Act 1975, which protects wildlife. The act mandates that a permit is required to keep a dingo, and that this dingo must not be cross-bred with a dog. The act allows an order to be made to unprotect dingoes in certain areas of the state. The Order in Council made on the 28 September 2010 includes the far north-west of the state and all of the state north-east of Melbourne. It was made to protect stock on private land. The order allows dingoes to be trapped, shot or baited by any person on private land in these regions, while protecting the dingo on state-owned land. • Western Australia: Dingoes are considered as "unprotected" native fauna under the Western Australian Wildlife Conservation Act. The dingo is recorded as a "declared pest" on the Western Australian Organism List. This list records those species that have been declared as pests under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007, and these are regarded as pests across all of Western Australia. Landowners must take the prescribed measures to deal with declared pests on their land. The policy of the WA government is to promote eradication of dingoes in the livestock grazing areas but leave them undisturbed in the rest of the state. ==Control measures==

Dingo attacks on livestock led to widescale efforts to repel them from areas with intensive agricultural usage, and all states and territories have enacted laws for the control of dingoes. Dingo Fence In the 1920s, the Dingo Fence was erected on the basis of the Wild Dog Act (1921) and, until 1931, thousands of miles of Dingo Fences had been erected in several areas of South Australia. In the year 1946, these efforts were directed to a single goal, and the Dingo Fence was finally completed. The fence connected with other fences in New South Wales and Queensland. The main responsibilities in maintaining the Dingo Fence still lies with the landowners whose properties border on the fence and who receive financial support from the government. Reward system A reward system (local, as well from the government) was active from 1846 to the end of the 20th century, but there is no evidence that – despite the billions of dollars spent – it was ever an efficient control method. Therefore, its importance declined over time. This act was followed by updates and amendments, including 1931, 1938, and 1948. Poisoning baits Baits with the poison 1080 are regarded as the fastest and safest method for dog control, since they are extremely susceptible. Even small amounts of poison per dog are sufficient (0.3 mg per kg). In 2016, controversy surrounded a plan to inject a population of dingoes on Pelorus Island, off the coast of northern Queensland, Australia, with pills that would release a fatal dose of 1080 poison two years after the dingoes were to be intentionally released to help eradicate goats. The dingoes were dubbed 'death-row dingoes', and the plan was blocked due to concerns for a locally threatened shorebird. Neutering Owners of dingoes and other domestic dogs are sometimes asked to neuter their pets and keep them under observation to reduce the number of stray/feral dogs and prevent interbreeding with dingoes. Animal traps are considered inhumane and inefficient on a large scale, due to the limited efficacy of baits. Based on studies, it is assumed that only young dogs that would have died anyway can be captured. and are occasionally taken by red foxes, quolls, ants and birds. Aerial baiting can nearly eliminate entire dingo populations. ==Conservation of purebreds==

Until 2004, the dingo was categorised as of "least concern" on the Red List of Threatened Species. In 2008, it was recategorised as "vulnerable", following the decline in numbers to around 30% of "pure" dingoes, due to crossbreeding with domestic dogs. In 2018, the IUCN regarded the dingo as a feral dog and discarded it from the Red List. Dingoes are reasonably abundant in large parts of Australia, but there is some argument that they are endangered due to interbreeding with other dogs in many parts of their range. According to DNA examinations from 2004, the dingoes of Fraser Island are "pure", as opposed to dingo–dog hybrids. However, skull measurements from the mid-1990s had a different result. A 2013 study showed that dingoes living in the Tanami Desert are among the "purest" in Australia. Groups that have devoted themselves to the conservation of the "pure" dingo by using breeding programs include the Australian Native Dog Conservation Society and the Australian Dingo Conservation Association. Presently, the efforts of the dingo conservation groups are considered to be ineffective because most of their dogs are untested or are known to be hybrids. According to the Dingo Discovery Sanctuary and Research Centre, many studies are finding a case for the re-introduction of the dingo into previously occupied areas in order to return some balance to badly degraded areas as a result of "unregulated and ignorant farming practices". Dingo densities have been measured at up to 3 per square kilometre (0.8/sq mi) in both the Guy Fawkes River region of New South Wales and in South Australia at the height of a rabbit plague. Dingoes according to the study were found to exist in four genetically distinct populations; previous studies assumed there was only one type of dingo, and that therefore any differences between dingoes across the country was due to hybridisation—when it was found that it's actually because there are different types of dingoes. In 2021, DNA testing of over 5,000 wild-living canines from across Australia found that 31 were feral domestic dogs and 27 were first-generation hybrids. This finding challenges the perception that dingoes are nearly extinct and have been replaced by feral domestic dogs. certain skull characteristics, and genetic analyses can be used for differentiation. Despite all the characteristics that can be used for distinguishing between dingoes and other domestic dogs, there are two problems that should not be underestimated. First, there is no real clarity regarding at what point a dog is regarded as a "pure" dingo, and, secondly, no distinguishing feature is completely reliable—it is not known which characteristics permanently remain under the conditions of natural selection. There are two main opinions regarding this process of interbreeding. The first, and likely most common, position states that the "pure" dingo should be preserved via strong controls of the wild dog populations, and only "pure" or "nearly-pure" dingoes should be protected. The second position is relatively new and is of the opinion that people must accept that the dingo has changed and that it is impossible to bring the "pure" dingo back. Conservation of these dogs should therefore be based on where and how they live, as well as their cultural and ecological role, instead of concentrating on precise definitions or concerns about "genetic purity". Both positions are controversially discussed. Due to this interbreeding, there is a wider range of fur colours, skull shapes and body size in the modern-day wild dog population than in the time before the arrival of the Europeans. Over the course of the last 40 years, there has been an increase of about 20% in the average wild dog body size. It is currently unknown whether, in the case of the disappearance of "pure" dingoes, remaining hybrids would alter the predation pressure on other animals. It is also unclear what kind of role these hybrids would play in the Australian ecosystems. However, it is unlikely that the dynamics of the various ecosystems will be excessively disturbed by this process. ==See also==