Mating strategies of a nocturnal, desert rodent (Dipodomys spectabilis)

Randall, Jan A.

doi:10.1007/bf00172173

Cited by 45 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Amongst the family Muridae, mating systems can be seen to vary: monogamy in Microtus ochrogaster and Peromyscus californicus (Gaulin and Fitzgerald 1988;Ribble and Salvioni 1990); exclusive polygyny in Microtus townsendii and M. richardsoni (Lambin and Krebs 1991;Ludwig 1984); apparent promiscuity in Clethrionomys glareolus (Bondrup-Nielsen and Karlsson 1985); a blend of female territoriality and male promiscuity in Onychomys torridus (Frank and Heske 1992); and multi-male polygyny in 'clans' of brown rats, Rattus norvegicus (Calhoun 1963;Fenn and Macdonald 1989) and house mice, Mus musculus (Hurst 1990). Intra-specific variation is also apparent, determined by such factors as resource dispersion (Clethrionomys glareolus, Y16nen and Viitala 1991), variance in male body weight (Clethrionomys rufocanus, Kawata 1988), and operational sex ratio (Dipodomys spectabilis, Randall 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of space use and male vigour amongst wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, in the cereal ecosystem

Tew

Macdonald

1994

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Abstract. The spatial organisation of male and female wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, was investigated in a large-scale radio-tracking study on arable farmland near Oxford, United Kingdom, during the breeding season. Both sexes had significantly larger home ranges in the breeding season than at other times, and the breeding season home ranges of male (X = 1.44 ha) were significantly larger than those of females (X = 0.49 ha). Home range overlap was significantly greater between males, and between males and females, than it was between females. Overlap between males tended to be greatest in heavily utilised areas. Except during sexual consortship, there was minimal evidence of dynamic interaction among individuals. Home range sizes of breeding males varied widely, as did their body weights. There was no relationship between male body weight and home range size or any other movement parameter. However, males with the largest home ranges had the highest scores on all other movement parameters, indicating that they expended more energy in movement. These more 'vigorous' males had access to the home ranges of more females than did males with small home ranges.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of space use and male vigour amongst wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, in the cereal ecosystem

Tew

Macdonald

1994

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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“…Males are polygynous, rang ing widely during the breeding season to locate receptive females, which arc more sedentary |Behrends et al, 1986a, 1986b: Randall. 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural Space-Use Patterns and Hippocampal Size in Kangaroo Rats

1994

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The size of the hippocampus, a forebrain structure that processes spatial information, correlates with the need to relocate food caches by passerine birds and with sex-specific patterns of space use in microtine rodents. The influences on hippocampal anatomy of sexual selection within species, and natural selection between species, have not yet been studied in concert, however. Here we report that natural space-use patterns predict hippocampal size within and between two species of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys). Differences in foraging behavior suggest that Merriam''s kangaroo rats (D. merriami) require better spatial abilities than bannertail kangaroo rats (D. spectabilis). Sex-specific differences in mating strategy suggest that males of both species require more spatial ability than females. As predicted, hippocampal size (relative to brain size) is larger in Merriam''s than in bannertail kangaroo rats, and males have larger hippocampi than females in both species. Males of a third species (D. ordii) also have smaller hippocampi than Merriam’s kangaroo rat males, despite being similar to Merriam''s in brain and body size. These results suggest that both natural and sexual selection affect the relative size and perhaps function of mammalian hippocampi. They also reassert that measures of functional subunits of the brain reveal more about brain evolution than measures of total brain size.

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“…The rats transmit long-distance, airborne signals during footdrumming exchanges between territories. Closer distance communication occurs when a rat enters the territory of another and drums on the mound in a territorial challenge or during mating (Randall 1984(Randall , 1991. In this case, the signal is probably both airborne and seismic.…”

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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Mating strategies of a nocturnal, desert rodent (Dipodomys spectabilis)

Cited by 45 publications

References 45 publications

Dynamics of space use and male vigour amongst wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, in the cereal ecosystem

Dynamics of space use and male vigour amongst wood mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, in the cereal ecosystem

Natural Space-Use Patterns and Hippocampal Size in Kangaroo Rats

Seismic communication between the burrows of kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis

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