Spacing behaviour between two desert rodents, the golden spiny mouse Acomys russatus and the bushy-tailed gerbil Sekeetamys calurus

Nest and feeding behaviour patterns were compared between two sympatric species, the bushy-tailed gerbil Sekeetamys calurus and the golden spiny mouse Acomys russatus, in order to assess nest site and food as possible resources of competition. The way the species interact under laboratory conditions was also compared. While S. calurus used a nest into which they removed bedding material, only two out of six A. russatus did so, while in at least half of the studied cases they were found roosting outside of the nest inside the enclosure. When introduced into the same enclosure, S. calurus was the dominant species and in five out of 12 cases S. calurus inhabited the nest abandoned by A. russatus, and in seven cases A. russatus was found resting in the enclosure. Unlike A. russatus, S. calurus accumulated food inside its nest and also protected the food resource in the enclosure against A. russatus. It seems that different nest and feeding behavioural patterns can reduce competition between these two sympatric species.