We investigated the role of foraging and escape substrates on foraging
decisions of a Namib Desert gerbil, Gerbillurus tytonis (Rodentia), i
n the field. We used the giving-up density technique, which uses artif
icial seed trays to assess foraging decisions. We tested whether the f
oraging decisions made in the trays were an artifact of prior knowledg
e of a food source by comparing giving-up densities in trays that were
randomly placed in different parts each night with that in trays that
remained in fixed position throughout the experiment. There was no si
gnificant difference in giving-up densities between these two treatmen
ts, which suggests that prior knowledge of food location does not affe
ct foraging decisions. We examined the preferences of gerbils for the
different substrates using seed trays. The gerbils showed significant
differences among habitats in the amount of seed taken and between new
-moon and full-moon nights. They removed more seeds where the differen
ce between the size of the seeds and the size of the sand substrate wa
s large. This finding is congruent with the hypothesis that tactile di
scriminatory ability affects the foraging behavior of these rodents. A
lthough these rodents alter their foraging behavior in response to pre
dation risk, there was no significant difference in the amount of seed
s taken in habitats differing only in the degree of compaction of esca
pe substrates.