Abstract
Banner-tailed kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis, footdrum to produce substrate-borne and airborne acoustic energy. Previous studies show that they communicate territorial ownership via airborne footdrumming signals. The research reported here used simulated footdrum patterns generated by an artificial `thumper' to address the question of whether kangaroo rats communicate through seismic components of these acoustic signals. With microphones suspended in sealed burrows, we found that airborne sounds were attenuated by approximately 40 dB as they passed through the burrow wall into the burrow chamber. The substrate-borne vibrations from the thumper yielded sound approximately 40 dB greater in peak amplitude than the attenuated airborne sound. Thus, 99.9% of the peak power of the thumper was transmitted directly through the substrate into the burrow. The rats in sealed burrows timed their responses to playbacks of footdrums from the thumper and a loudspeaker so they did not initiate a drumming sequence during either the seismic or airborne signals. When these signals were masked by loud noise, the rats continued to drum to the seismic signal but drummed randomly during the airborne playback. These results suggest that the sealed burrow provides a quiet place in which D. spectabilis can listen for substrate-borne communications from conspecifics.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Accepted: 13 May 1997
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Randall, J., Lewis, E. Seismic communication between the burrows of kangaroo rats, Dipodomys spectabilis. J Comp Physiol A 181, 525–531 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003590050136
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003590050136