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Long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) behaviour and handling times when foraging for buried truffles
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 07:31 authored by Vernes, K, Jarman, PTruffles represent an important food resource for many small mammals, but because most mycophagous mammals are difficult to observe in the wild, behavioural observations of mammals handling and consuming truffles are almost non-existent. Using camera traps, we observed the behaviour of long-nosed potoroos (Potorous tridactylus) foraging for buried truffles, and recorded the rate at which truffles were excavated and consumed. Potoroos excavated buried truffles rapidly (2.4 ± 0.2 s) with synchronous drawing strokes of their forepaws, then gathered the excavated truffles with forepaws and/or mouth and cleaned away adherent debris before consuming the truffle. When potoroos were unsuccessful at recovering a truffle, they spent significantly more time digging (4.8 ± 0.6 s) before giving up. Potoroos were successful at recovering a truffle in 76% of digging attempts, and once they had located a cache of buried truffles, achieved a rate of recovery of ~2.4 truffles per minute.
History
Publication title
Australian MammalogyVolume
36Pagination
128-130ISSN
0310-0049Department/School
School of Natural SciencesPublisher
CSIRO PublishingPlace of publication
AustraliaRights statement
Copyright 2014 Australian Mammal SocietyRepository Status
- Restricted