The polychaete Cirriformia moorei burrows in muddy sediments by fracture, using its hydrostatic skeleton to expand its anterior region and exert force against its burrow wall to extend a crack. Burrowing occurs in four phases: stretching forward into the burrow, extending the crack anteriorly, thickening the burrowing end to amplify stress at the tip of the crack, and bringing the rest of the b...

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a species that includes strains known to be pathogenic in humans, and other Vibrionaceae are common, naturally occurring bacteria in coastal environments. Understanding the ecology and transport of these organisms within estuarine systems is fundamental to predicting outbreaks of pathogenic strains. Infaunal burrows serve as conduits for increased transport of tidal wat...

SUMMARY Two visits were made to the Chatham Islands in September 1990 and January 1991 to assist with the Chatham Island taiko and Chatham Island petrel recovery programmes. Four new CI taiko were caught and another was recaptured at the three main breeding burrows. A new CI taiko burrow was found this season. The nest chamber of burrow Tuku No. 10 was located and an adult CI taiko was found in...

Female common voles live in groups in large burrows whereas males are probably solitary and promiscuous. At high population density, when burrows become a limiting factor, some females are forced to emigrate from their group. To investigate whether these emigrants could share new common burrows with unrelated neighbours, we analysed in the laboratory burrowing and social behaviour in dyads of u...

Worms of different sizes extend burrows through muddy sediments by fracture, applying dorso-ventral forces that are amplified at the crack tip. Smaller worms displace sediments less than larger worms and therefore are limited in how much force they can apply to burrow walls. We hypothesized that small worms would exhibit a transition in burrowing mechanics, specifically a lower limit in body si...

The efficacy of a 0.025% warfarin formulation against the lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis) was evaluated in groundnut and wheat crops in district Chakwal of the Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan. The baiting was started at early flowering stages of the respective crops using a broken rice formula (with additives) by placing bait stations near active burrow systems over a three weeks period ...

A fossil discovery in the mid-Cretaceous Blackleaf Formation of southwest Montana, USA, has yielded the first trace and body fossil evidence of burrowing behaviour in a dinosaur. Skeletal remains of an adult and two juveniles of Oryctodromeus cubicularis gen. et sp. nov. a new species of hypsilophodont-grade dinosaur, were found in the expanded distal chamber of a sediment-filled burrow. Corres...

1045-2249/92/14.00 © 1992 International Society for Behavioral Ecology We observed radio-implanted Merriam's kangaroo rats disposing of 10-g bonanzas of rolled oats in 48 trials in the field. The principal determinant of the initial disposition of discovered food was apparently its distance from the day burrow: food found within about 10m was mainly larder hoarded, whereas food encountered fart...

The ‘aggressive wandering’ behaviour of male fiddler crabs is well documented in several species and is usually described as an apparently random movement through a population, punctuated by threats and combat directed at displaying males, and superficial burrow explorations. It has been suggested that wandering males are mainly low condition individuals with a regenerating major claw, unsucces...

Abstract The population of the recently-described Whenua Hou diving petrel Pelecanoides whenuahouensis comprises c. 200 adults that all breed in a single 0.018 km 2 colony dune system vulnerable to erosion. species would therefore benefit from establishment second breeding through translocation. However, given small size source population, it is essential translocations are informed by carefull...