Balancing the competing requirements of saltatorial and fossorial specialisation: burrowing costs in the spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis

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dc.contributor.authorWhite, C.
dc.contributor.authorMatthews, P.
dc.contributor.authorSeymour, R.
dc.date.issued2006
dc.description© The Company of Biologists
dc.description.abstractSemi-fossorial animals (burrowing surface foragers) need to balance the competing morphological requirements of terrestrial and burrowing locomotion. These species rarely show the same degree of claw, forelimb and pectoral girdle structural development that fully fossorial forms (burrowing subterranean foragers) do, but nevertheless invest considerable amounts of energy in burrow systems. The compromise between terrestrial and burrowing locomotion was investigated by measuring net costs of burrowing and pedestrian transport in the spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis, a species that forages in open areas in arid environments and is adapted for saltatorial locomotion. The net cost of transport by burrowing of hopping mice was found to be more expensive than for specialised fossorial species, and burrows were estimated to represent an energy investment equivalent to the terrestrial locomotion expected to be incurred in 17–100 days. A phylogenetically independentcontrasts approach revealed that morphological specialisation for burrowing was associated with low maximum running speeds in fossorial mammals and, for non-fossorial rodents and marsupials, maximum running speed was positively correlated with an index of habitat structure that ranged from arboreal to open desert. The high terrestrial speeds attainable by this semi-fossorial species by saltatory locomotion apparently outweigh the energetic savings that would be associated with burrowing specialisation.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityCraig R. White, Philip G. D. Matthews, and Roger S. Seymour
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Experimental Biology, 2006; 209(11):2103-2113
dc.identifier.doi10.1242/jeb.02233
dc.identifier.issn0022-0949
dc.identifier.issn1477-9145
dc.identifier.orcidSeymour, R. [0000-0002-3395-0059]
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2440/23669
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherCompany of Biologists Ltd
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.02233
dc.subjectCost of transport
dc.subjectburrowing
dc.subjectsaltation
dc.subjectenergetics
dc.subjectmaximum running speed
dc.subjecthopping mouse
dc.subjectNotomys alexis
dc.titleBalancing the competing requirements of saltatorial and fossorial specialisation: burrowing costs in the spinifex hopping mouse, Notomys alexis
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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