Food Habits and Gastric Morphology of the Grasshopper Mouse

Abstract

Behavioral and morphological adaptations associated with alimentation are described in the grasshopper mouse, Onychomys torridus longicaudus. Predatory behavior is related to the selection and utilization of food. Gastric morphology demonstrates an extensive cornified lining and a restriction of the glands to a fundic pouch. This pouch, communicating with the main lumen of the stomach through a small aperture, contains both cardiac and gastric glands. The probable evolutionary derivation of this specialized fundic area is considered.