First record of ‘tail-belting’ in two species of free-ranging rodents (Apodemus flavicollis and Apodemus agrarius): Adaptation to prevent frostbite?

Abstract

AbstractRodents are among the most successful mammals because they have the ability to adapt to a broad range of environmental conditions. Here, we present the first record of a hitherto unknown thermal adaptation to low temperatures that repeatedly occurred in two species of non-commensal rodents (Apodemus flavicollisandApodemus agrarius) between January 16 and February 11, 2021. The classic rodent literature implies that rodents prevent heat loss via a broad range of behavioral adaptations including sheltering, sitting on their tails, curling into a ball, or huddling with conspecifics. Yet, we have repeatedly observed an undescribed behavior which we refer to as “tail-belting”. The behavior was performed during the lowest temperatures, whereby animals - which were attracted out of their over-wintering burrows for a highly-palatable food reward - lift and curl the tail medially, before resting it on the dorsal, medial rump while feeding or resting between feeding bouts. We documented 115 instances of the tail-belting behavior; 38 inApodemus agrarius, and 77 inApodemus flavicollis. InA. flavicollis, this behavior was only observed below −6.9C, and occurred more often than inA. Agrarius. The latter only demonstrated the behavior below −9.5C. We further detail the environmental conditions under which the behavior is performed, and provide possible functions. We then set several directions for future research in this area.