Merriam’s Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys merriami) Voluntarily Select Temperatures That Conserve Energy Rather than Water

2003 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 522-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn R. Banta
Keyword(s):  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rats

Aboveground Activity of Merriam's Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys Merriami) in Relation To Sex and Reproduction

Behaviour ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 96 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 210-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Behrends ◽  
Margo I. Wilson ◽  
Martin Daly
Keyword(s):  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rats

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

Behaviour ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 135 (6) ◽  
pp. 823-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daly ◽  
Lisa Leaver
Keyword(s):  
Food Preference ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Scatter Hoarding ◽  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rats

AbstractTwo laboratory studies were conducted to determine whether Merriam's kangaroo rats invest greater effort in the caching of a more preferred food. As predicted, more of the preferred food was cached and yet the individual caches were smaller. The second experiment showed wider dispersion of the preferred food, and these caches were placed further away from the source. These findings imply that investment in protecting food from pilferage is adjusted in relation to the animal's evaluation of that food.

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

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 1851-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daly ◽  
Margo I. Wilson ◽  
Philip R. Behrends ◽  
Lucia F. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Sex Difference ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
Radio Transmitters ◽  
Differentiated Effects ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rats

In a 12-year study involving 191 radio-tracked Merriam's kangaroo rats and 337 subcutaneous radio implantations, females were killed by predators at a rate of 0.0054 per radio-bearing night and males at a rate of 0.0116. Both the mortality rate and the sex difference therein declined over the course of several nights after radio implantation. Females reduced their excursions from the day burrow for the first few nights after radio implantation, whereas males exhibited little if any such inhibition of movement. This sexually differentiated behavioural response to the transmitters is a likely source of the sexually differentiated mortality patterns.

scholarly journals COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT AFFECTS FOOD-HOARDING BEHAVIOR OF MERRIAM'S KANGAROO RATS (DIPODOMYS MERRIAMI)

2006 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Murray ◽  
Amy M. Barber ◽  
Stephen H. Jenkins ◽  
William S. Longland
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Food Hoarding ◽  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
Hoarding Behavior ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rats

Range Use Patterns and Spatial Relationships of Merriam's Kangaroo Rats (Dipodomys Merriami)

Behaviour ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 96 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 187-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daly ◽  
Margo I. Wilson ◽  
Philip Behrends
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
Range Use ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rats

Prevalence of cutaneous evaporation in Merriam's kangaroo rat and its adaptive variation at the subspecific level

2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (4) ◽  
pp. 773-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L. Tracy ◽  
G.E. Walsberg
Keyword(s):  
Water Loss ◽  
Evaporative Water Loss ◽  
Evaporative Water ◽  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Dipodomys Merriami ◽  
Kangaroo Rat ◽  
Mesic Site ◽  
Merriam's Kangaroo Rat ◽  
Cutaneous Evaporation ◽  
Subspecific Level

Previous estimates suggested that ventilatory evaporation constitutes the major source of water loss in kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.). We quantified rates of water loss in Merriam's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) and demonstrate the degree to which acclimation to a particular thermal and hydric environment plays a role in the intraspecific variation in water loss evident in this species. We draw the following conclusions: (1) that water loss varies intraspecifically in Merriam's kangaroo rat, in association with habitats of contrasting aridity and temperature; (2) that animals from more xeric locations have lower water loss rates than those from more mesic sites; (3) that most water loss is cutaneous, with ventilatory evaporative water loss contributing, at most, only 44% to total evaporative water loss; and (4) that intraspecific differences in rates of water loss are not acclimatory, but fixed. After acclimating under the same conditions, xeric-site animals still show a 33% lower rate of evaporative water loss than mesic-site animals.

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