Population differences and learning effects in walnut feeding technique by the Japanese squirrel
Population differences and learning effects in walnut feeding technique by the Japanese squirrel
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DOI：
10.1007/s10164-011-0267-z
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发表时间：
2011-05-01
影响因子：
0.9
通讯作者：
Tamura, Noriko
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Tamura, Noriko
摄食效率是一个重要的因素，解释饮食选择在种子吃动物。加工和消耗种子的行为适应有利于提高其摄食率。日本胡桃（Juglans ailanthifolia）是日本低地混种林中松鼠（Sciurus lis）的重要食物。在本研究中，饲养技术的人口差异进行了检查。在从Takao种群捕获的所有松鼠中（在其栖息地中有野生日本核桃），观察到快速打开核桃壳的最佳饲养技术。然而，只有8%的松鼠从富士种群（没有核桃在他们的栖息地）处理核桃的最佳喂养技术。通过重复提供核桃50天，14%的松鼠从富士人口获得了最佳的喂养技术。学习效果没有显着差异之间的孤独（没有示威者）和社会条件（示威者）。年龄对学习饲养技术的影响进行了研究，使用来自动物园种群的个体，这些个体对日本核桃是幼稚的。所有5个6个月大的个体和一半的1-2岁的个体，在2个月的学习期后，通过最佳喂养技术吃核桃，但没有3岁以上的个体。因此，日本松鼠的核桃喂养技术并不完全是遗传固定的行为，可以通过在年幼时学习来改进。
Feeding efficiency is an important factor explaining diet selection in seed-eating animals. Behavioral adaptation to process and consume the seed is advantageous to improve their feeding rate. The Japanese walnut (Juglans ailanthifolia), which has a nutritious kernel surrounded by a hard shell, is an important food for the Japanese squirrel (Sciurus lis) in lowland mixed-species forests in Japan. In the present study, population differences in feeding technique were examined. In all squirrels captured from the Takao population (with wild Japanese walnuts in their habitat), the optimal feeding technique for quickly opening the walnut shell was observed. However, only 8% of the squirrels from the Fuji population (without walnuts in their habitat) processed the walnuts by the optimal feeding technique. By a repetitive provision of walnuts for 50 days, 14% of squirrels from the Fuji population acquired the optimal feeding technique. Learning effects did not differ significantly between solitary (without a demonstrator) and social conditions (with a demonstrator). The effects of age on learning the feeding technique were examined using individuals from a zoo population that had been na < ve for Japanese walnuts. All five individuals aged 6 months old, and half the individuals aged 1-2 years old, ate walnuts by the optimal feeding technique after a 2-month learning period, but none of the individuals older than 3 years did. Consequently, the walnut feeding techniques of the Japanese squirrel are not entirely genetically fixed behavior and can be improved by learning at a young age.