RUI: Communication and Predator Defense by Ground- Transmitted Vibration

RUI：通过地面传输振动进行通信和捕食者防御

• 批准号: 9109850
• 负责人: Janet Randall
• 金额: $ 9.41万
• 依托单位: San Francisco State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1991
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1991-07-15 至 1993-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9109850&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Communication; Predator; Defense; Ground

Kangaroo rats are nocturnal rodents found only in the deserts of North America. Although they are part of the rich web of life in the deserts of the Southwestern United States, little was understood about their communication and social organization until Dr. Randall began her research on them. She is continuing to examine how members of one species, the banner-tailed kangaroo rat, communicate their identity to other species of kangaroo rats and protect themselves from predators by drumming their hind feet on the ground to create air-borne and ground-transmitted vibrations. Footdrumming is a unique communication system that has never been studied in detail in any other animal besides the banner-tailed kangaroo rat. In this project, Dr. Randall is opening research into footdrumming as seismic communication by investigating whether or not banner-tails can communicate underground from territory to territory. She will also explore the possibility of cultural transmission of footdrumming signals: Individual footdrumming signatures of mothers are possibly learned by their offspring and then modified as the young animals establish themselves in new territories with new neighbors. Finally, Dr. Randall will examine in much greater detail than before communication between kangaroo rats and snakes, focusing on whether or not banner-tails footdrum in the presence of snakes to induce them to leave by informing them that their chances of predation are low. Because most research on mammalian communication by sound has been done on highly social species, this study provides important comparative evidence for the evolution of sound communication in nonsocial mammals. In addition, the research will contribute to an understanding of fragile desert ecosystems. Because the banner-tailed kangaroo rat was recently listed as an endangered species in Arizona, Dr. Randall's research could become very important in conservation efforts and recovery programs to assure the survival of the banner-tail and other endangered kangaroo-rat species.

袋鼠大鼠是仅在北美沙漠中发现的夜间啮齿动物。 尽管它们是美国西南部沙漠中丰富的生命网络的一部分，但直到兰德尔博士开始对它们进行研究之前，他们对他们的沟通和社会组织知之甚少。 她正在继续研究一种物种的成员，旗帜尾袋鼠的袋鼠大鼠如何将其身份传达给其他物种的袋鼠大鼠，并通过在地面上敲打其后脚来产生空气传播和地面传播振动，从而保护自己免受捕食者的侵害。 Footdrumming是一种独特的通信系统，除了横幅尾袋鼠鼠之外，其他任何动物都从未对其进行详细研究。 在这个项目中，兰德尔博士正在通过调查横幅尾巴是否可以从地下到达领土的地下通信，从而开始对脚步的研究。 她还将探索脚踏板信号的文化传播的可能性：母亲的个人足迹签名可能是通过其后代学习的，然后随着年轻动物与新邻居建立新的领土。 最后，兰德尔博士将比袋鼠老鼠和蛇之间的交流之前更详细地检查，重点是在蛇在场的情况下是否横幅尾巴脚下的脚脚脚；通过通知他们，他们的捕食机会很低，以诱使他们离开。 由于大多数关于声音哺乳动物交流的研究都是在高度社交物种上进行的，因此这项研究为非社交哺乳动物的声音交流演变提供了重要的比较证据。 此外，该研究将有助于理解脆弱的沙漠生态系统。 由于横幅尾袋鼠大鼠最近被列为亚利桑那州的一种濒危物种，因此兰德尔博士的研究在保护工作和恢复计划中可能变得非常重要，以确保横幅尾尾和其他濒临灭绝的袋鼠rat物种的生存。