That's a vole, and here, almost in pride of place, is a mole, which is very difficult to catch for a cat, because of course, they spend a lot of time underground.
Social relationships are very important for human biology and prairie voles are one of the only species that are studied in the lab that exhibit this trait.
To better understand how lifelong bonding works, Beery and her team wanted to know if both male and female prairie voles make equal investments in making the long haul work.
Hearing also plays the central role here, but for the prey, not the hunter owls that hunt prey with pretty good hearing, like mice or voles, were and still are under evolutionary pressure to evolve silent flight.
The flat disc of the Great Grey's face (pictured) acts as a satellite dish that captures noise and directs it to the ears; using sound alone, it can seize a vole faintly scratching deep under snow.
Great Grey 面部的扁平圆盘(如图)充当卫星天线, 捕捉噪音并将其引导至耳朵;仅凭声音,它就可捕捉一只在雪地深处轻轻抓挠的。
Voles and lemmings are also heavily consumed when available, but these species go through boom and bust periods, and are usually only readily available every 3 to 4 years.
From the Jurassic to the Cretaceous Periods, when our ancestors were the size of voles and shrews, dinosaurs like Supersaurus, Sauroposeidon, and Argentinosaurus were shaking the Earth.
According to Beery, putting vole monogamy to the test helps us better understand the different types of human relationships and our process for selecting who we spend time with.