RUI: Communication and Predator Defense by Ground- Transmitted Vibration

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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.