Seismic signalling as a means of communication in a subterranean mammal

Rado, R.; Levi, Noam; Hauser, Herbert; Witcher, Jeffrey A.; Alder, N.; Intrator, Nathan; Wollberg, Z.; Terkel, Joseph

doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(87)80183-5

Cited by 102 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This vibration rate matched the rate of the deep sinusoidal frequency modulation found in high-amplitude screech calls of the same subjects; however, the reason for such a coincidence is not known. This range of vibration frequencies is similar to the reported frequency ranges of seismic waves used by blind mole rats Nannospalax ehrenbergi for social intraspecific long-distance communication (Heth et al, 1987;Rado et al, 1987). Body vibrations of the piebald shrews were not related to thermoregulatory shivering, as they occurred at rather high ambient temperatures (24-26°C), and did not result from depletion of energy stores, because all animals were well fed at testing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Measuring airborne components of seismic body vibrations in a Middle-Asian sand-dwelling Insectivora species, the piebald shrew (Diplomesodon pulchellum)

Volodin

Zaytseva

Ilchenko³

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Self-produced seismic vibrations have been found for some subterranean rodents but have not been reported for any Insectivora species, although seismic sensitivity has been confirmed for blind sand-dwelling chrysochlorid golden moles. Studying the vocal behaviour of captive piebald shrews, Diplomesodon pulchellum, we documented vibrations, apparently generated by the whole-body wall muscles, from 11 (5 male, 6 female) of 19 animals, placed singly on a drum membrane. The airborne waves of the vibratory drumming were digitally recorded and then analysed spectrographically. The mean frequency of vibration was 160.5 Hz. This frequency matched the periodicity of the deep sinusoidal frequency modulation (159.4 Hz) found in loud screech calls of the same subjects. The body vibration was not related to thermoregulation, hunger-related depletion of energy resources or fear, as it was produced by well-fed, calm animals, at warm ambient temperatures. We hypothesize that in the solitary, nocturnal, digging desert piebald shrew, body vibrations may be used for seismic exploration of substrate density, to avoid energy-costly digging of packed sand for burrowing and foraging. At the same time, the piercing quality of screech calls due to the deep sinusoidal frequency modulation, matching the periodicity of body vibration, may be important for agonistic communication in this species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Measuring airborne components of seismic body vibrations in a Middle-Asian sand-dwelling Insectivora species, the piebald shrew (Diplomesodon pulchellum)

Volodin

Zaytseva

Ilchenko³

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…In burrow-dwelling mammals, both fossorial and semifossorial rodents exhibit adaptations to transmit and receive low-frequency, seismic vibrations. Among fossorial mammals, members of at least two families (Spalacidae and Bathyergidae) exhibit adaptations for generating and receiving low-frequency, seismic signals (Rado et al 1987;Heth et al 1991). Spalacid mole rats (S. ehrenbergi), for example, drum their heads against the ground.…”

Section: Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among terrestrial vertebrates, evidence for communication is limited to white-lipped frogs, Leptodactylus albilabris, that thump the ground with their vocal sacs to generate vibrations in the soil (Lewis and Narins 1985;Cortopassi and Lewis 1992) and to two fossorial mole-rat species. Spalax ehrenbergi drums its head on the top of the burrow (Heth et al 1987;Rado et al 1987Rado et al , 1989 and Georychus capensis drums its feet on the burrow¯oor (Jarvis and Bennett 1991;Narins et al 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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“…Seismic, nonvisual communication in mole rats Spalax provides a major somatosensory mechanism in adaptive evolution underground, both in adaptation and speciation , Rado et al 1987, Nevo et al 1991a. The brain mapping of the cortex of Spalax ehrenbergi was explored for somatosensory responses with special reference to an extension into the occipital cortex which serves vision in sighted mammals (Necker et al 1992).…”

Section: Seismic Communication In Spalax: a Major Communication Undermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vibrational, seismic communication has been extensively described in Spalax , 1991, Rado et al 1987, Nevo et al 1991a. The seismic signals are produced by thumping of the flat head (which originally serves to bulldoze soil and compact the tunnel) against the tunnel ceiling.…”

Section: Seismic Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mammalian evolution underground. The ecological-genetic-phenetic interfaces

Nevo¹

1995

Acta Theriol.

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The global adaptive convergence of subterranean mammals currently involves 3 orders: rodents, insectivores and marsupials. These include 11 families, 50 genera, and several hundreds of species. This global evolutionary process followed the stepwise climatic cooling and drought followed by biotic extinction in the transition from the middle Eocene to the early Oligocene, a period of 10 million years (35-45 Ma = million years ago) of profound change in earth geology, climate and biota. The earth changed from the Mesozoic "hot house" to the Neogene (Miocene to Present) "cold house", ie from a warm, equable, mostly subtropical world that persisted from the Mesozoic to the beginning of the present glaciated world. The ecological theater of open country biotas, that opened up progressively in the Cenozoic following the Eocene-Oligocene transition, was associated with increasing aridity, colder climate, and terrestrialism. This climatic change set the stage for a rapid evolutionary play of recurrent adaptive radiations of unrelated mammals on all continents into the subterranean ecotope. The subterranean ecotope is relatively simple, stable, specialised, low or medium in productivity, predictable and discontinuous. Its major evolutionary determinants are specialization, competition and isolation. This ecotope involves the herbivorous (rodents) and insectivorous (insectivores and marsupials) niches. All subterranean mammals share molecular and organismal convergent adaptations to their common unique ecology. By contrast, they display divergent adaptations to their separated niches of herbivory and insectivory and to their different phylogenies. The remarkable adaptive evolution of subterranean mammals involves adaptive structural and functional progression and regression. It is one of the most dramatic examples of global convergent evolution due to underground ecological constraints, at both the molecular and organismal levels of evolutionary theory.

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Seismic signalling as a means of communication in a subterranean mammal

Cited by 102 publications

References 5 publications

Measuring airborne components of seismic body vibrations in a Middle-Asian sand-dwelling Insectivora species, the piebald shrew (Diplomesodon pulchellum)

Measuring airborne components of seismic body vibrations in a Middle-Asian sand-dwelling Insectivora species, the piebald shrew (Diplomesodon pulchellum)

Seismic communication between the burrows of kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis

Mammalian evolution underground. The ecological-genetic-phenetic interfaces

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