The geographic distribution of rodent granivory and cheek pouches across North America

Seeds are an important food resource for many rodents.  One of the specializations that many granivorous rodents exhibit to increase their efficiency in harvesting seeds is cheek pouches.  However, many rodent species lack cheek pouches.  We propose that the presence or absence of cheek pouches is related to seed size and the productivity of the habitat where those rodents reside. 

Location  North America – United States and Canada.

Taxon  Granivorous rodents.

We divided granivorous rodents into those species with and without cheek pouches. We then compiled a list of plant species (n = 389) that are known or suspected to be dispersed by these rodents via scatter hoarding the seeds in soil and compared the richness distributions of small (≤10 mm) and large seeds (>10 mm) to the distributions of rodents with and without cheek pouches.  Large seeds are generally too large to fit into cheek pouches so they are usually carried one at a time with the incisors. Most rodents with ch...