A longstanding puzzle has been solved.
How do northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus
) locate truffles (Gautieria monticola
) – bearing in mind that the truffles are a subterranean and ephemeral but primary food source?
Sanjay Pyare (Assistant Professor of GIS and Landscape Ecology, at the University of Alaska Southeast, ) and colleague William S Longland (at the Agricultural Research Service, Reno, NV) investigated this question back in 2001, and published the results
of their observations in the Canadian Journal of Zoology
, 2001, 79:1007-1015.