Dietary intake and time budget in two desert rodents: a diurnal herbivore, Psammomys obesus, and a nocturnal granivore, Meriones crassus
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Irina S. Khokhlova
We studied dietary intakes and time budgets in two desert gerbillids, Psammomys obesus, a diurnal herbivore, and Meriones crassus, a nocturnal granivore. P. obesus was offered fresh leaves of Atriplex halimus while M. crassus was offered millet seeds and Atriplex halimus, mainly as a source of water. We predicted that the (1) nocturnal rodent will feed mainly at night and the diurnal rodent mainly during the day; and (2) the herbivore consuming a relatively low energy diet will spend more time feeding than the granivore consuming a relatively high energy diet. The latter prediction was confirmed in that P. obesus spent more time feeding than M. crassus. Number of feeding sessions in M. crassus was the same as in P. obesus but each feeding session was shorter. However, the former prediction was only partially confirmed. Feeding during the dark phase was significantly longer than the light phase in the nocturnal M. crassus, as predicted; but feeding did not differ between diel phases in the diurnal P. obesus. The large amount of forage required by P. obesus necessitated consumption throughout the light and dark phases at the same rates of intake.
Copyright 2005, Walter de Gruyter
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Articles in the same Issue
- Location and habitat characteristics of the breeding nests of the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) in the reed-beds of an intensively used farmland
- Spatial ecology and diet of the dhole Cuon alpinus (Canidae, Carnivora) in north central Thailand
- Spatial and temporal variability of bat foraging in a western European low mountain range forest
- Assessment of the potential for negative interaction between re-introduced elk (Cervus elaphus) and resident white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in their wintering areas in Ontario, Canada
- Dietary intake and time budget in two desert rodents: a diurnal herbivore, Psammomys obesus, and a nocturnal granivore, Meriones crassus
- Evolutionary and systematic relationships among tuco-tucos of the Ctenomys pundti complex (Rodentia: Octodontidae): a cytogenetic and morphological approach
- Preliminary investigation into the presence and distribution of small carnivores in the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia through the use of a camera trap
- Annual food habits of the lesser grison (Galictis cuja) at the southern limit of its range
- The diet of the badger Meles meles (Mustelidae, Carnivora) on the Apennines (Central Italy)
- The incidence of Botfly parasitism in small mammals near White River, Ontario, Canada
- The genus Oecomys (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) in Argentina
- New records on the geographic distribution of bat species in the Brazilian Amazonia
