Abstract
It is difficult to define a desert in a precise fashion. Arid to semi-arid areas may vary in the form of their vegetation; this ultimately reflects the variation of soil conditions, elevation, temperature, and periodicity of rainfall. Such variation in physical and vegetational features will be paralleled by variations in the species and diversity of rodent faunas exploiting them (Zahavi & Wahrman, 1957; Chew & Chew, 1970). Arid grasslands with intermixed Artemesia characterize a semi-desert habitat over much of the extreme western edge of the Great Plains of the United States. Semi-desert areas supporting mixed growth of low shrubs (termed chaparral) defines much of the semi-arid country in the southwestern, coastal portion of North America. True North American deserts have been classically divided into low elevation and high elevation life zones, the Lower Sonoran and Upper Sonoran respectively (Merriam & Bailey, 1910).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Allen, G. M. 1940. The mammals of China and Mongolia, in Natural history of Central Asia, vol. 11, pt. 2 (Granger, W., ed.), Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., New York.
Balph, D. F. & Stokes, A. W. 1963. On the ethology of a population of Uinta ground squirrels. Amer. Midland Nat., 69: 106–126.
Balph, D. M. & Balph, D. F. 1966. Sound communication of Uinta ground squirrels. J. Mamm., 47: 440–450.
Baran, D. & Glickman, S. 1970. Territorial marking in the Mongolian gerbil: A study of sensory control and function. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., 71: 237–245.
Bartholomew, G. A. & Hudson, J. W. 1960. Aestivation in the Mohave ground squirrel, Citellus mohavensis. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 124: 193–208.
Bodenheimer, F. S. 1935. Animal life in Palestine. Jerusalem, viii + 506 pp.
Bürger, M. 1959. Eine vergleichende Untersuchung über Putzbewegungen bei Lagomorpha und Rodentia. Zool. Gart. Lpz., 23: 434–506.
Burns, T. W. 1956. Endocrine factors in the water metabolism of the desert mammal Gerbillus gerbillus. Endocrinology, 58: 243–254.
Burt, W. H. 1943. Territoriality and home range concepts as applied to mammals. J. Mamm., 24: 346–352.
Chew, R. M. & Chew, A. E. 1970. Energy relationships of the mammals of a desert shrub (Larrea tridentata) community. Ecol. Monographs, 40: 1–21.
Dice, L. R. 1952. Natural communities. Univ. Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, x + 549 pp.
Dieterlen, F. 1962. Geburt und Geburtshilfe bei Stachelmaus. Zeit. für Tierpsychol., 19: 191–222.
Dixon, K. L. 1959. Spatial organization in a population of Nelson’s pocket mouse. Southwest Nat., 3: 107–113.
Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. 1951. Gefangenschaftsbeobachtungen an der persischen Wüstenmaus (Meriones persicus persicus, Blanford). Zeit. für Tierpsychol., 8: 400–423.
Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I. 1958. Das Verhalten der Nagetiere. Handb. Zool., Band 8, Lieferung 12. Gruyter, Berlin.
Eisenberg, J. F. 1963a. The behavior of heteromyid rodents. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., vol. 69, iv + 100 pp.
Eisenberg, J. F. 1963b. A comparative study of sandbathing in heteromyid rodents. Behaviour, 22: 16–23.
Eisenberg, J. F. 1967. A comparative study in rodent ethology with emphasis on evolution of social behavior I. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 122, No. 3597, 51 pp.
Eisenberg, J. F. 1968. Behavior patterns, Chapter 12, pp. 451–495, in Biology of Peromyscus (King, J. A., ed.) Serial Publ. No. 2. Amer. Soc. Mamm.
Eisenberg, J. F. & Isaac, D. E. 1963. The reproduction of heteromyid rodents in captivity. J. Mamm., 44: 61–67.
Ewer, R. F. 1965. Food burying in the African ground squirrel, Xerus erythropus (E. Geoff.). Zeit. für Tierpsychol., 22(3): 321–327.
Fink, A. & Goehl, H. 1968. Vocal spectrum and cochlear sensitivity in the Mongolian gerbil. J. Audit. Res., 8: 63–69.
Fink, A. & Sofouglu, M. 1966. Auditory sensitivity of the Mongolian gerbil. J. Audit. Res., 6: 313–319.
Gibbs, R. H., Jr. 1955. Vocal sound produced by the kangaroo rat, Dipodomys spectabilis. J. Mamm., 36(3): 463.
Grant, E. C. & Mackintosh, J. H. 1963. A comparison of social postures of some common laboratory rodents. Behaviour, 21: 246–259.
Gulotta, E. F. 1971. Meriones unguiculatus. Mammalian Species No. 3: 1–5 pp. Amer. Soc. Mamm.
Happold, D. G. D. 1970. Reproduction and development of the Sudanese jerboa, Jaculus jaculus butleri (Rodentia, Dipodidae). J. Zool. Lond., 162: 505–515.
Hatt, R. T. 1932. The vertebral columns of ricochetal rodents. Bull. Amer. Nat. Hist., 63: VI.
Hildebrand, M. 1961. Voice of the grasshopper mouse. J. Mamm., 42: 263.
Howell, A. B. 1932. The saltatorial rodent Dipodomys: the functional and comparative anatomy of its muscular and osseus systems. Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts. Sci., 67: 377–536.
Hudson, J. W. 1962. The role of water in the biology of the antelope ground squirrel, Citellus leucurus. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., 64(1): 1–56.
Ingles, L. G. 1965. Mammals of the Pacific states. Stanford Univ. Press. xii + 506 pp.
Iverson, S. L. 1967. Adaptations to arid environments in Perognathus parvus (Peale). Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. Brit. Columbia. 130 pp.
King, J. A. (editor). 1968. Biology of Peromyscus. Serial Publ. # 2. Amer. Soc. Mamm. xiii + 593 pp.
Kirschshofer, R. 1958. Freiland- und Gefangenschaftsbeobachtungen an der nordafrikanischen Rennmaus. Zeit, für Säugetierk., 23: 33–49.
Kirmiz, J. P. 1962. Adaptation to desert environment: a study on the jerboa, rat, and man. Butterworth, London. xi + 168 pp.
Kuehn, R. E. & Zucker, I. 1968. Reproductive behavior of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., 66: 747–752.
Kutscher, C. L. 1968. Plasma volume change during water deprivation in gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rats. Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 25: 929–936.
Lataste, F. 1887. Documents pour l’ethologie des mammiferes. Bordeaux, 659 pp. (Reprinted from: Actes Soc. Linn. de Bordeaux, vols. 40, 41, and 43.)
Lay, D. M. 1972. The anatomy, physiology, functional significance, and evolution of the specialized hearing organs of gerbilline rodents. J. Morphol. 138: 41–120.
Legouix, J. P., Petter, F. & Wisner, A. 1954. Etude de L’Auditien chez des Mammifères à Bulles Tympaniques Hypertrophis. Mammalia, 18(3) : 262–271.
Leyhausen, P. 1965. The communal organization of solitary mammals, pp. 249–264, in Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond., No. 14. Academic Press, New York.
MacMillen, R. E. 1964. Population ecology, water relations, and social behavior of a Southern California semidesert rodent fauna. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool., 71: 1–59.
Marlow, B. J. 1969. A comparison of the locomotion of two desert-living Australian mammals, Antechinomys spenceri and Notomys cervinus. J. Zool. Lond., 157: 159–167.
Merriam, C. H., Bailey, V., Nelson, E. W. & Preble, E. A. 1910. Zone map of North America. Biol. Survey, U.S. Dept. Agric., Washington, D.C.
Mohr, E. 1954. Die freilebenden Nagetiere Deutschlands und der Nachbarländer. Jena Veb Gustav Fischer. 212 pp.
Mykytowycz, R. 1970. The role of skin glands in mammalian communication, pp. 327–360, in Advances in chemoreception, vol. I., Communication by Chemical Signals (Johnston, J. et al., eds.). Appleton-Century Croft, New York.
Nauman, D. J. 1968. Open field behavior of the Mongolian gerbil. Psychonom. Sci., 10(5): 163–164.
Ognev, S. J. 1959. Säugetiere und ihre Welt. Berlin: Acad. Verlag. viii + 362 pp.
Ognev, S. J. 1963. Mammals of the U.S.S.R. and adjacent countries. Vol. 6, Rodents, 508 pp., published by Israel Program for Scientific Translations.
Petter, F. 1961. Repartition geographique et ecologie des rongeurs desertique. Mammalia, 24: 1–219.
Pye, A. 1965. The auditory apparatus of the Heteromyidae (Rodentia, Sciuromorpha). J. Anat. Lond., 99: 161–174.
Ranck, G. L. 1968. The rodents of Libya: Taxonomy, ecology, and zoogeographical relationships. U.S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 275, vii + 264 pp.
Rauch, H. G. 1957. Zum Verhalten von Meriones tamariscinus Pallas. Zeit. für Säugetierk., 22: 218–240.
Reynolds, H. G. 1960. Life history notes on Merriam’s kangaroo rat in southern Arizona. J. Mamm., 41: 48–58.
Ruffer, D. G. 1968. Agonistic behavior of the northern grasshopper mouse Onychomys leucogaster breviauritus. J. Mamm., 49(3): 481–487.
Schmidt-Nielsen, K. & Schmidt-Nielsen, B. 1952. The water metabolism of desert animals. Physiol. Rev., 32: 135–166.
Scheffer, T. H. 1938. The pocket mice of Washington and Oregon in relation to agriculture. U.S. Dept. Agric, Tech. Bull. No. 608, 15 pp.
Stanley, M. 1971. An ethogram of the hopping mouse, Notomys alexis. Z. Tierpsychol., 29: 225–258.
Theissen, D. D., Lindzey, G. & Friend, H. C. 1968. Androgen control of territorial marking in the Mongolian gerbil. Science, 160: 432–434.
Theissen, D. D. & Yahr, P. 1970. Central control of territorial marking in the Mongolian gerbil. Physiol. and Behavior, 5: 275–278.
Wagner, H. O. 1961. Die Nagetiere einer Gebirgsabdachung in Sudmexiko und ihre Bezichungen zur Umwelt. Zool. Jb. Syst., 89(8): 177–242.
Webster, D. B. 1960. Auditory significance of the hypertrophied mastoid bullae in Dipodomys. Anat. Rec., 136: 299.
Webster, D. B. 1962. A function of the enlarged middle ear cavities of the kangaroo rat, Dipodomys. Physiol. Zool., 35: 248–255.
Whitten, W. K. & Bronson, F. H. 1970. The role of pheromones in mammalian reproduction, pp. 309–326 in Advances in chemoreception, vol. I, Communication by chemical signals (Johnston, J., et al., eds.). Appleton-Century Croft, New York.
Winkelman, J. R. & Getz, L. L. 1962. Water balance in the Mongolian gerbil. J. Mamm., 43: 150–154.
Wisner, A., Legouix, J. P. & Petter, F. 1954. Etude Histologique de L’Oreille d’un Rongeur a Bulles Tympaniques Hypertrophies, Meriones crassus. Mammalia, 18: 371–374.
Wood, A. E. 1935. Evolution and relationship of the heteromyid rodents with new forms from the tertiary of western North America. Ann. Carnegie Mus., 24: 73–262.
Zahavi, A. & Wahrman, J. 1957. The cytotaxonomy, ecology and evolution of the gerbils and jirds of Israel (Rodentia: Gerbillinae). Mammalia, 21: 341–380.
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1975 Dr. W. Junk b.v., Publishers, The Hague
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Eisenberg, J.F. (1975). The Behavior Patterns of Desert Rodents. In: Prakash, I., Ghosh, P.K. (eds) Rodents in Desert Environments. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 28. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1944-6_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1944-6_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-1946-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-1944-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive