Comparison of anti-snake displays in the sympatric desert rodents<i>Xerospermophilus tereticaudus</i>(round-tailed ground squirrels) and<i>Dipodomys deserti</i>(desert kangaroo rats)

Clark, Rulon W.; Dorr, Scott W.; Whitford, Malachi D.; Freymiller, Grace A.; Hein, Steven R.

doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyw137

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…This propensity for desert kangaroo rats to kick sand may be driven both by the abundance of sand in the desert kangaroo rats’ preferred habitat and the powerful hindlimbs kangaroo rats use to both avoid snake strikes with propulsive jumps (Whitford et al, ) and kick snakes away in mid‐air to prevent envenomation (Whitford et al, ). Kangaroo rats can kick sand with their hindlimbs from 20–30 cm away, outside of the effective strike range of sidewinders (Clark et al, ). This harassment mechanism is likely effective because sand could compromise the sensory organs of rattlesnakes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For each ambush coil, we recorded the time that the snake was first found in that coil and the time that snake abandoned the coil. As in Clark et al (2016), extreme daytime temperature prevented snakes from exhibiting surface activity from a few hours after sunrise to shortly before sunset, circumscribing the time in which a snake could remain in any given ambush coil. Thus, snakes always exhibited ambush coil abandonment at least once for each night they were actively ambush hunting.…”

Section: Ambush Coil Abandonmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used the tractable predator-prey interactions that occur between sidewinder rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes) and desert kangaroo rats (Dipodomys deserti) to determine how different elements of the kangaroo rat antipredator display affected the hunting behaviors of rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes are ambush predators that hunt by remaining motionless in a coiled position for extended durations, waiting for prey to mistakenly approach within striking distance (Clark, 2016;see Reinert, MacGregor, Esch, Bushar, & Zappalorti, 2011 for a detailed description and visual examples of ambush coils). The coiled ambush position of rattlesnakes also acts as a clear indicator that a snake is prepared and motivated to capture any potential prey, as rattlesnakes that are not actively hunting typically either retreat to cover or adopt a loosely coiled position (Reinert, Cundall, & Bushar, 1984;Reinert et al, 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…When desert kangaroo rats discover snake predators, they typically perform a series of multimodal, multicomponent predator-deterrent displays, including repeated approaches toward the snake followed by acrobatic jumps, rapid drumming of the feet against the ground, and kicking sand in the direction of the snake (Clark, Dorr, Whitford, Freymiller, & Hein, 2016;Randall & Matocq, 1997;Randall & Stevens, 1987). In a previous study, we showed that any anti-snake displays given by kangaroo rats suppressed predatory attacks from sidewinders, likely because alert kangaroo rats are very effective at leaping out of the way of snake strikes (Freymiller, Whitford, Higham, & Clark, 2017;Whitford et al, 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Managing predators: The influence of kangaroo rat antipredator displays on sidewinder rattlesnake hunting behavior

2019

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Upon sensing predators in their vicinity, many prey species perform antipredator displays that are thought to provide information to the predator that deters it from attacking (predator‐deterrent signals). These displays can be complex, incorporating a variety of signaling elements as well as direct physical harassment of the predator. Although the display behaviors in these communication systems are often well characterized, evidence of the efficacy of these displays in deterring predators is limited due to the challenges associated with studying free‐ranging predators. Here, we examine how the anti‐snake signals of the desert kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti) influence the ambush hunting behaviors of sidewinder rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes). We found that, although desert kangaroo rats incorporate a number of signal elements into their antipredator display, only sand kicking behavior was a significant factor in motivating sidewinder rattlesnakes to cease hunting: high rates of sand kicking led to early abandonment of ambush coils. These results indicate that anti‐snake displays of small mammals may be especially effective at mitigating the threat posed by rattlesnakes when those displays incorporate physical harassment as well as signaling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ambush Coil Abandonmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Managing predators: The influence of kangaroo rat antipredator displays on sidewinder rattlesnake hunting behavior

2019

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“…In addition, the kangaroo rats are able to ward off snakes using warning signals, foot drumming and kicking sand in the face of their predators [25,36]. In facing a striking snake, they are capable of hopping backwards [37–39] and to heights exceeding 2 m [40]. In contrast, the pocket mice remain bush-bound, and avoid predators by climbing into dense vegetation and are presumed to apply a torpor mechanism to reduce dependency on the foraging when risk levels are too high [33,35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Divergent Behavior Amid Convergent Evolution: A Case of Four Desert Rodents Learning to Respond to Known and Novel Vipers

Bleicher

Kotelr

Shalev

et al. 2018

Preprint

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14Desert communities word-wide are used as natural laboratories for the study of convergent 15 evolution, yet inferences drawn from such studies are necessarily indirect. Here, we brought 16 desert organisms together (rodents and vipers) from two deserts (Mojave and Negev). Both 17 predators and prey in the Mojave have adaptations that give them competitive advantage 18 compared to their middle-eastern counterparts. Heteromyid rodents, kangaroo rats and pocket 19 mice, have fur-lined cheek pouches that allow the rodents to carry larger loads under predation 20 risk compared to gerbilline rodents. Sidewinder rattlesnakes have heat-sensing pits, allowing 21 them to hunt better on moonless nights when their Negev sidewinding counterpart, the Saharan 22 horned vipers, are visually impaired. In behavioral-assays, we used giving-up density (GUD) to 23 gage how each species of rodent perceived risk posed by known and novel snakes. We repeated 24 this for the same set of rodents at first encounter and again two months later following intensive 25 "natural" exposure to both snake species. Pre-exposure, all rodents identified their evolutionarily 26 familiar snake as a greater risk than the novel one. However, post-exposure all identified the 27 heat-sensing sidewinder rattlesnake as a greater risk. The heteromyids were more likely to avoid 28 encounters with, and discern the behavioral difference among, snakes than their gerbilline 29 counterparts. 30 31 34Deserts, and desert rodents in particular, provide a model system for studying parallel and 35 convergent evolution. Deserts around the world form at least five evolutionarily independent 36 laboratories of adaptation, ecology, and evolution [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Shared environmental conditions of 37 temperature, precipitation, and aridity force evolutionary processes in a manner that results in 38 similar adaptations in species that fill similar ecological roles. Not only do species converge, but 39 communities may too [7][8][9][10]. A good example of this can be studied in desert dunes of the 40 Mojave and of the Negev deserts. In both of these systems we find an array of plants that drop 41 their seeds onto the sand (creating a seed bank); a variety of rodent species feed on these seeds 42 [11][12][13]; and medium-sized sidewinding vipers feed on the rodents [14,15]. 43The Mojave and Negev deserts of North America and the Middle East, respectively, 44 possess rodents with similar ecologies [5,7,13,16,17]. These rodents are nocturnal, semi-45 fossorial, seed-eating, and seed caching. However, the heteromyid rodents of the Mojave may 46 have a constraint breaking adaptation compared to their convergent counterparts in the Negev, 47 the gerbilline rodents. A constraint-breaking adaptation is a game-changing evolutionary 48 adaptation that alters, relaxes or eliminates tradeoffs and confers a competitive advantage to its 49 holder over those lacking the trait as defined by Rosenzweig and McCord [18]. The heteromyids 50 have external fur lined cheek pouches that allow...

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Springing into action: Comparing escape responses between bipedal and quadrupedal rodents

Freymiller,

Whitford,

McGowan

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Predation is a fundamental selective pressure on animal morphology, as morphology is directly linked with physical performance and evasion. Bipedal heteromyid rodents, which are characterized by unique morphological traits such as enlarged hindlimbs, appear to be more successful than sympatric quadrupedal rodents at escaping predators such as snakes and owls, but no studies have directly compared the escape performance of bipedal and quadrupedal rodents. We used simulated predator attacks to compare the evasive jumping ability of bipedal kangaroo rats (Dipodomys) to that of three quadrupedal rodent groups—pocket mice (Chaetodipus), woodrats (Neotoma), and ground squirrels (Otospermophilus). Jumping performance of pocket mice was remarkably similar to that of kangaroo rats, which may be driven by their shared anatomical features (such as enlarged hindlimb muscles) and facilitated by their relatively small body size. Woodrats and ground squirrels, in contrast, almost never jumped as a startle response, and they took longer to perform evasive escape maneuvers than the heteromyid species (kangaroo rats and pocket mice). Among the heteromyids, take‐off velocity was the only jump performance metric that differed significantly between species. These results support the idea that bipedal body plans facilitate vertical leaping in larger‐bodied rodents as a means of predator escape and that vertical leaping likely translates to better evasion success.

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Comparison of anti-snake displays in the sympatric desert rodentsXerospermophilus tereticaudus(round-tailed ground squirrels) andDipodomys deserti(desert kangaroo rats)

Cited by 10 publications

References 35 publications

Managing predators: The influence of kangaroo rat antipredator displays on sidewinder rattlesnake hunting behavior

Managing predators: The influence of kangaroo rat antipredator displays on sidewinder rattlesnake hunting behavior

Divergent Behavior Amid Convergent Evolution: A Case of Four Desert Rodents Learning to Respond to Known and Novel Vipers

Springing into action: Comparing escape responses between bipedal and quadrupedal rodents

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