COMPARING THE BURROWING BEHAVIOR OF THE IBERIAN MOLE VOLES (MICROTUS (TERRICOLA) LUSITANICUS, M (T) PYRENAICUS AND M (T) DUODECIMCOSTATUS)

The different burrowing behaviours of Iberian mole voles were compared in a syntopic area in the Spanish Pyrenees. On the whole, the burrowi ng behaviour is very similar in all three species, only differing in t he way earth is removed from the terrarium: this agrees with Hickman's hypothesis, since these species belong to the same subgenus. The simi larity of behaviour in these species coincides with Mathias' predictio n concerning the relationship between morphological and behavioural si milarities. Microtus (Terricola) lusitanicus and M. (T.) pyrenaicus us e their incisors as a digging tool, which fits Agrawal's prediction, f or these species mainly occur in hard soils.