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Investigations to study the association between hormones and scent marking behaviour in the Indian gerbil. Tatera indica indica Hardwicke, 1807 revealed that castration reduces the frequency of scent as well as urine marking significantly within two weeks. The response of castrated animals to testosterone propionate therapy was gradual and the peak scent marking activity was attained after 8 weeks of administering the injection on a weekly interval.

[With 4 Tables] A comparison of external body parts and cranial characters in three populations of Cutch rock-rat, Rattus c. cutchicus (Wroughton, 1912) and Soft furred field-rat, R. meltada pallidior (R y 1 e y, 1914) collected from their respective habitats in the Indian desert, has been made. In R. c. cutchicus, males are found to be larger in almost all the characters in Jalore and Jhunjhunu populations, whereas females tended to possess larger values in the Cutch sample. However, inter-population comparison indicated significant differences only for a few characters. In R. meltada pallidior, the male body parts are significantly larger in respect of head and body length and tail length (P

Histological structure of the mid-ventral gland and its role in scent marking were studied in the Indian desert gerbil, Meriones hurrianae.

Kumari S. & Prakash I., 1983: The mid-ventral gland of the Indian gerbil, Tatera indica and soft-furred field rat, Rattus meltada. Acta theriol., 28, 28: 425—438 [With 3 Tables, 2 Figs. & Plates XIV—XV] The ventral scent marking gland occurs in about 91 and 72 per cent male Tatera indica and Rattus meltada respectively. It is absent in the females of the latter species but is present in about 5.8 per cent female T. indica residing in urban areas and 10.3 per cent female residing in desert grasslands. The gland size is positively and significantly correlated with body weight. The growth of the gland is a continuous process throughout the life of the rodents. No relationship has been found between the gland size and the home range of the rodents. The sebaceous alveoli in the gland of both the species are of typical holocrine type and the epidermal stratified epithelium in T. indica is smooth whereas in R. m. pallidior it is papillaeform. [Coordinating & Monitoring Centre for Rodent Research and Training, Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur-342 003, India]

The responses of Meriones hurrianae deprived of food and food-cum-water were found to be similar in respect of time spent in feeding, exploration and drinking whereas water- deprived gerbils fed for a significantly (P < 0.01) shorter time. However, they explored twice (P < 0.01) as long as gerbils in the other two conditions of deprivation. These observations indicate that deprivation of water increases exploratory behaviour among M. hurrianae but food, and food-cum-water deprivation do not seem to influence it. The behaviour of M. hurrianae, when deprived of water, mostly alternated between exploration and drinking whereas feeding was the major behavioural component of the gerbils deprived of food, and food-cum-water. It appears that feeding behaviour among M. hurrianae is of a higher order than drinking behaviour since the animals depend chiefly on the available water content of the food in their natural invironment - the desert.

Dokonano porownania wymiarow ciala i czaszki dwu populacji Tatera indica indica Hardwicke, 1807. Zwierzeta pochodzily z miasta Bikaner oraz z naturalnego środowiska, z pustyni Rajasthan. Nie stwierdzono roznic istotnych statystycznie w wymiarach ciala miedzy obu populacjami (Tabela 1), ale wiele wymiarow czaszki zwierząt z populacji pustynnej bylo wiekszych niz u lowionych w Bikaner (Tabela 2). Oceniono rowniez dymorfizm plciowy w obu populacjach (Tabela 3). Wymiary ciala populacji z pustyni Rajasthan porownano z danymi dla tego gatunku z rejonow Sind i Uttar Pradesh (Tabela 4).

Celem pracy bylo uchwycenie prawidlowości w dynamice wystepowania szkod wyrządzonych na polach przez dziki (Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758) w rocznym cyklu rozwoju upraw polowych, porownanie wielkości szkod oraz okresow ich nasilenia w 3-ch rejonach kraju: poludniowo-zachodnim, środkowym, polnocno-wschodnim (Ryc. 1) oraz porownanie wielkości szkod w poszczegolnych uprawach.