Directional preference may enhance hunting accuracy in foraging foxes
Directional preference may enhance hunting accuracy in foraging foxes
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2010.1145
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发表时间：
2011-06-23
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Burda, Hynek
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cerveny, Jaroslav;Begall, Sabine;Burda, Hynek
赤狐捕猎小动物时会表现出一种特殊的行为，称为“捕鼠”。狐狸跳得很高，这样它就能从上方出其不意地袭击猎物。听觉似乎是主要的感觉准确的猎物位置在高植被或雪下，它不能检测到的视觉线索。准备跳跃的狐狸表现出高度的听觉注意力。觅食的狐狸倾向于将它们的跳跃方向大致指向东北方向。当狐狸在茂密的植被和积雪下狩猎时，成功的攻击会紧密聚集在北部，而其他方向的攻击基本上不会成功。攻击的方向与一天中的时间、一年中的季节、云量和风向无关。我们认为，这种方向偏好代表了磁性对齐的情况下，提高狩猎攻击的精度。
Red foxes hunting small animals show a specific behaviour known as 'mousing'. The fox jumps high, so that it surprises its prey from above. Hearing seems to be the primary sense for precise prey location in high vegetation or under snow where it cannot be detected with visual cues. A fox preparing for the jump displays a high degree of auditory attention. Foxes on the prowl tend to direct their jumps in a roughly north-eastern compass direction. When foxes are hunting in high vegetation and under snow cover, successful attacks are tightly clustered to the north, while attacks in other directions are largely unsuccessful. The direction of attacks was independent of time of day, season of the year, cloud cover and wind direction. We suggest that this directional preference represents a case of magnetic alignment and enhances the precision of hunting attacks.