PRF: Behavioral and Morphological Adaptations of Heteromyid Rodents to a Variable Environment

越来越多的证据表明，空间能力直接 与一个物种的觅食生态相关。 还有 证据表明，觅食行为，需要精确的空间 记忆，如食物储存，与 大脑结构的相对体积。 觅食 行为、空间能力和大脑解剖学 将比较同域异颌类啮齿动物。 觅食 这些物种的范围（Dipodomys merriami，Perognathus 和Chaetodipus fallax）及其缓存模式 分布将确定在两个领域的季节， 加州的现场。 他们完成一系列 利用空间记忆重新定位食物储藏 将在实验室进行测量。 最后，相对 将根据薄的厚度计算每个物种的海马体积。 大脑切片 因此，本研究将探讨以下问题： 三个层次的空间能力： 形态学，组织空间能力的不同 比如寻找食物和取回储藏室，最后， 这种差异对沙漠结构的影响 异糠虾群落 这个机构的网站 博士后奖学金项目是大学 匹兹堡

Growing evidence indicates that spatial abilities are directly correlated to the foraging ecology of a species. There is also evidence that foraging behaviors which require precise spatial memory, such as food-storing, are correlated with changes in the relative volume of brain structures. The foraging behavior, spatial abilities and brain anatomy of three sympatric heteromyid rodents will be compared. The foraging ranges of these species (Dipodomys merriami, Perognathus formosus and Chaetodipus fallax) and their patterns of cache distribution are to be determined over two field seasons in a California field site. Their ability to complete a series of mazes and to relocate their food caches using spatial memory will be measured in the laboratory. Finally, the relative hippocampal volume of each species will be calculated from thin brain sections. Thus, this study will address the question of spatial ability at three levels: the underlying basis in morphology, the organization of spatial ability for different tasks such as finding food and retrieving caches and, finally, the implication of such differences for the structure of desert heteromyid communities. The institutional site for this postdoctoral fellowship project is the University of Pittsburgh.