Abstract
The bandicoots,Bandicota bengalensis (Gray), tend to favour a varied diet, but the foods offered are not selected in a linear order. Unextracted flours of millet and maize, are readily accepted: only semolina is equally accepted among the forms of ground wheat. Among whole cereals, millet is preferred but equally preferred is polished rice. Rice is also markedly preferred when boiled to its dry alternative. Foods mixed with sugar or groundnut oil are similarly favoured over plain alternatives.
Factors such as texture strongly influence the choice, while the effects of taste and calorific value are marked by their profound omnivory.
Mean rates of consumption vary according to choice, from 5 to 10% of body weight.
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Part of M. Phil thesis of the author.
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Kamal, A., Khan, J.A. Food preferences of the India mole ratBandicota bengalensis (Gray). Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 86, 329–336 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03050957
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03050957