Abstract—

In three rodent species with different types of nutrition, a targeted “predator–prey” type interaction with mobile prey was revealed for the first time and described in detail. The granivorous striped field mouse, herbivorous narrow-skulled vole, and omnivorous Campbell’s dwarf hamster have an equally efficient, stereotypical hunting behavior that is in many ways similar to the behavior of the common shrew (specialized insectivorous species). At the same time, the hunting rate in rodents is lower than in insectivores. Unlike insectivorous species, rodents have a stereotypical hunting behavior that is manifested facultatively (completely, but not in all individuals). The portion of “hunters” in narrow-skulled voles is two times lower than that in striped field mice. The tactics of prey killing vary in different species: striped field mice, narrow-skulled voles, and shrews immobilize an insect with a series of quick bites; Campbell’s dwarf hamsters bite off limbs of the prey, which is apparently a manifestation of a more specialized hunting behavior. The nature of hunting attacks is different: first capturing the prey by teeth, rodents move to a capture with paws, while shrews use only teeth, which indicates a relative primitiveness of their predatory behavior. Campbell’s dwarf hamsters can start the attack with a capture using both teeth and paws, which characterizes their hunting behavior as the most evolutionarily advanced among the studied species. The stereotypes of hunting behavior in all three rodent species are manifested according to the principle “all at once” and are not affected by experience. The hunting behavior of rodents can be considered an evolutionarily stable strategy that supports the ability of populations to hunt moving insects in order to expand the spectrum of food resources.

中文翻译：

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啮齿动物的兼性狩猎行为可能是进化上稳定的策略

摘要—

在三种具有不同营养类型的啮齿动物物种中，首次揭示了与移动猎物有针对性的“捕食者－猎物”类型相互作用，并对其进行了详细描述。肉食性条纹田鼠，草食性窄壳田鼠和杂食性坎贝尔的矮仓鼠具有同样有效的定型狩猎行为，在许多方面与普通common（专门食虫性物种）的行为相似。同时，啮齿动物的狩猎率低于食虫动物。与食虫物种不同，啮齿动物具有刻板的狩猎行为，这种行为表现为兼性（完全，但并非在所有个体中）。窄头田鼠中的“猎人”部分比条纹田鼠中的“猎人”部分低两倍。猎杀猎物的策略因物种而异：条纹田鼠，狭窄的头骨田鼠和sh虫用一系列快速叮咬固定昆虫。坎贝尔的侏儒仓鼠咬住了猎物的肢体，这显然是更专业的狩猎行为的体现。狩猎攻击的性质是不同的：首先用牙齿捕获猎物，啮齿动物用爪子捕获，而use只使用牙齿，这表明它们的掠食行为是相对原始的。坎贝尔的矮仓鼠可以用牙齿和爪子捕获来开始攻击，这表明它们的狩猎行为是被研究物种中进化最先进的。所有三种啮齿动物物种的狩猎行为的刻板印象都是根据“一次全部”的原则表现出来的，不受经验的影响。