Daily and Seasonal Feeding Activity of the Greater Mole-Rat (Spalax microphtalmus, Rodentia, Spalacidae)

Abstract

The activity of the greater mole-rat was studied using a new technique. New data have been obtained on the characteristics of the daily and seasonal underground life of mole-rats in an isolated population in Mordovia. Polyphase daily activity is most pronounced in the spring and early fall periods. In spring, the maximum activity (about 20% of all daily registrations in separate hours) is confined to the periods from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. and from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. The peak of activity in the early fall was recorded from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. At night, the activity of animals in different seasons was stably low. The burrowing activity, as a rule, began after midnight and stopped in the morning before 5:00 a.m. The maximum duration of the dormancy period in the evening in summer months was five hours. Statistically significant differences were obtained for the average number of passages of mole-rats in the burrow per day for different months using the Mann‒Whitney criterion (p < 0.05).