Behavioural adaptations of desert rodents (Heteromyidae)

Randall, Jan A.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1993.1032

Cited by 113 publications

(87 citation statements)

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“…How similar species coexist on similar resources has been a longstanding interest to community ecologists (Randall, 1993;Schoener, 1986). At present, the factors that influence species coexistence are poorly understood, especially among the terrestrial food-hoarding rodents.…”

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confidence: 99%

Seed caching and cache pilferage by three rodent species in a temperate forest in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains

Zhang¹,

Shen²,

Liu³

et al. 2013

Zoological Research

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Although differences in food-hoarding tactics both reflect a behavioral response to cache pilferage among rodent species and may help explain their coexistence, differentiation in cache pilfering abilities among sympatric rodents with different hoarding strategies is seldom addressed. We carried out semi-natural enclosure experiments to investigate seed hoarding tactics among three sympatric rodent species (Tamias sibiricus, Apodemus peninsulae and Clethrionomys rufocanus) and the relationship of their pilfering abilities at the inter-and intraspecific levels. Our results showed that T. sibiricus exhibited a relatively stronger pilfering ability than A. peninsulae and C. rufocanus, as indicated by its higher recovery rate of artificial caches. Meanwhile A. peninsulae showed a medium pilfering ability and C. rufocanus displayed the lowest ability. We also noted that both cache size and cache depth significantly affected cache recovery in all three species. T. sibiricus scatter-hoarded more seeds than it larder-hoarded, A. peninsulae larder-hoarded more than scatter-hoarded, and C. rufocanus acted as a pure larder-hoarder. In T. sibiricus, individuals with lower pilfering abilities tended to scatter hoard seeds, indicating an intraspecific variation in hoarding propensity. Collectively, these results indicated that sympatric rodent species seem to deploy different food hoarding tactics that allow their coexistence in the temperate forests, suggesting a strong connection between hoarding strategy and pilfering ability.

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confidence: 99%

Seed caching and cache pilferage by three rodent species in a temperate forest in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains

Zhang¹,

Shen²,

Liu³

et al. 2013

Zoological Research

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“…These rodents include the kangaroo rats, Dipodomys, in the family Heteromyidae from North America, and at least seven genera of gerbils (family Muridae, subfamily Gerbillinae) from north and south Africa, the Middle East and Eurasia (Randall 1993(Randall , 1994b. Gerbils and kangaroo rats footdrum in distinct, species speci®c footdrumming rhythms (Randall 1994b).…”

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, a substantial portion of the resulting acoustic energy is transmitted in the seismic channel rather than in the air (Markl 1983;Narins et al 1992;Randall 1993). Some of these animals have structures specialized for sensing the seismic vibrations; in a few cases, there is evidence that the animals use the seismic channel for intraspeci®c communication (Koyama et al 1982;Pratte and Jeanne 1984;Narins 1990;Heth et al 1991;Baurecht and Barth 1992;Narins et al 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These nocturnal, desert rodents drum a complex pattern of individual footdrumming signatures that they can discriminate as originating from a neighbor or a stranger (Randall 1984(Randall , 1989(Randall , 1993(Randall , 1994a. When presented with the sound of footdrums, either generated directly by another rat or recorded previously by an experimenter and played through a loudspeaker, a rat typically responds with footdrums of its own (Randall 1984(Randall , 1994a(Randall , 1995.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Each mound is defended by a single animal of either sex, except when young rats are in natal mounds with mothers (Randall 1984). The kangaroo rats drum on the surface of the mound or on the¯oor of the burrow chamber inside the mound (Randall 1984(Randall , 1993. When inside the mound for any length of time, the rats typically seal the burrow entrance with several centimeters of dirt.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seismic communication between the burrows of kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis

Randall

Lewis

1997

Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural, and Behav

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Banner-tailed kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis, footdrum to produce substrate-borne and airborne acoustic energy. Previous studies show that they communicate territorial ownership via airborne footdrumming signals. The research reported here used simulated footdrum patterns generated by an arti®cial thumper' to address the question of whether kangaroo rats communicate through seismic components of these acoustic signals. With microphones suspended in sealed burrows, we found that airborne sounds were attenuated by approximately 40 dB as they passed through the burrow wall into the burrow chamber. The substrateborne vibrations from the thumper yielded sound approximately 40 dB greater in peak amplitude than the attenuated airborne sound. Thus, 99.9% of the peak power of the thumper was transmitted directly through the substrate into the burrow. The rats in sealed burrows timed their responses to playbacks of footdrums from the thumper and a loudspeaker so they did not initiate a drumming sequence during either the seismic or airborne signals. When these signals were masked by loud noise, the rats continued to drum to the seismic signal but drummed randomly during the airborne playback. These results suggest that the sealed burrow provides a quiet place in which D. spectabilis can listen for substrate-borne communications from conspeci®cs.

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Functional connectivity and home range inferred at a microgeographic landscape genetics scale in a desert‐dwelling rodent

Flores‐Manzanero

Luna‐Bárcenas

Dyer

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Gene flow in animals is limited or facilitated by different features within the landscape matrix they inhabit. The landscape representation in landscape genetics (LG) is traditionally modeled as resistance surfaces (RS), where novel optimization approaches are needed for assigning resistance values that adequately avoid subjectivity. Also, desert ecosystems and mammals are scarcely represented in LG studies. We addressed these issues by evaluating, at a microgeographic scale, the effect of landscape features on functional connectivity of the desert-dwelling Dipodomys merriami.We characterized genetic diversity and structure with microsatellites loci, estimated home ranges and movement of individuals using telemetry-one of the first with rodents, generated a set of individual and composite environmental surfaces based on hypotheses of variables influencing movement, and assessed how these variables relate to individual-based gene flow. Genetic diversity and structure results evidenced a family-induced pattern driven by first-order-related individuals, notably determining landscape genetic inferences. The vegetation cover and soil resistance optimized surface (NDVI) were the best-supported model and a significant predictor of individual genetic distance, followed by humidity and NDVI+humidity. Based on an accurate definition of thematic resolution, we also showed that vegetation is better represented as continuously (vs. categorically) distributed. Hence, with a nonsubjective optimization framework for RS and telemetry, we were able to describe that vegetation cover, soil texture, and climatic variables influence D. merriami's functional connectivity at a microgeographic scale, patterns we could further explain based on the home range, habitat use, and activity observed between sexes. We describe the relationship between environmental features and some aspects of D. merriami's behavior and physiology. K E Y W O R D Sdesert ecosystems, Dipodomys merriami, functional connectivity, landscape genetics, Merriam's kangaroo rat, resistance surfaces

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Behavioural adaptations of desert rodents (Heteromyidae)

Cited by 113 publications

References 0 publications

Seed caching and cache pilferage by three rodent species in a temperate forest in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains

Seed caching and cache pilferage by three rodent species in a temperate forest in the Xiaoxinganling Mountains

Seismic communication between the burrows of kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis

Functional connectivity and home range inferred at a microgeographic landscape genetics scale in a desert‐dwelling rodent

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