Sexually differentiated effects of radio transmitters on predation risk and behaviour in kangaroo rats Dipodomys merriami

Behavioural modulation of predation risk: moonlight avoidance and crepuscular compensation in a nocturnal desert rodent, Dipodomys merriami

The temporal and spatial distribution of above-ground activity in Merriam's kangaroo rats, Dipodomys merriami, radio-tracked during 10 winters varied in relation to phases of the moon. At the full moon, animals were more likely to be found in their day burrows at scheduled hourly radio fixes, and when they emerged, they stayed closer to home. At partial moon phases, above-ground activity was pr...

Effects of Food Preference on Scatter-Hoarding by Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys merriami)

Effect of predation risk on selectivity in heteromyid rodents.

Variations in predation risk affect the costs of foraging and may therefore warrant different foraging decisions. One class of models ("higher requisite profit") predicts that foragers should become more selective when predation risk increases, as low-profitability items that do not cover the increased costs are dropped from the diet. An alternative class of models ("reduced finickiness") predi...

Chihuahuan Desert kangaroo rats: nonlinear effects of population dynamics, competition, and rainfall.

Using long-term data on two kangaroo rats in the Chihuahuan Desert of North America, we fitted logistic models including the exogenous effects of seasonal rainfall patterns. Our aim was to test the effects of intraspecific interactions and seasonal rainfall in explaining and predicting the numerical fluctuations of these two kangaroo rats. We found that logistic models fit both data sets quite ...

Behavioural syndromes in Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami): a test of competing hypotheses.

Behavioural syndromes, correlations of behaviours conceptually analogous to personalities, have been a topic of recent attention due to their potential to explain trade-offs in behavioural responses, apparently maladaptive behaviour and limits to plasticity. Using Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami), we assessed the explanatory power and generality of hypothesized syndrome structures d...