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Call: Typical degu (Octodon degus
Where it lives: Central Chile
What it consumes: Yards, seeds, bark– and often their own poop
Why it’s incredible: At around 10 to 12 inches (25 to 31 centimeters) long with brown fur, degus appear like large hamsters with long tails. These round rodents are endemic to the Chilean Matorral area in South America, where they reside in complicated underground tunnels with as numerous as 10 other degus.
And within these degu societies, pee is of vital significance.
These friendly animals utilize urine in a number of appealing methods, consisting of to shower. To get tidy, degus roll around in sand soaked with their own urine. Degus likewise utilize urine to scent mark their common routes and areas.
Their urine shows ultraviolet (UV) light—- which typical degus have the ability to see. This allows them to determine social locations and areas, along with other degus that have urine on their fur. Fresh degu urine shows UV light more highly than older urine. According to a 2003 research studydegus can utilize their UV vision to compare fresh and old urine marks, which assists them find where others have actually been and where social activity is taking place.
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Unlike lots of other little rodents such as hamsters and chinchillas– which are nighttime– degus are active throughout the day and sleep in the evening.
They’ve likewise got a clever escape strategy to get away predators. If captured, typical degus rapidly remove their tails– a technique called “degloving” — which develops a diversion and provides the degus an opportunity to leave. The tails do not grow back, so this is a one-time technique.
As extremely friendly animals, typical degus interact in several methods and can make up to 15 various noisesThey chatter their teeth when they are disappointed, squeak when they are afraid, and make high-pitched warbling and barking noises when thrilled. Degu moms likewise make particular maternal calls when they are nursing their young, which is believed to promote and enhance feeding.
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