When you imagine a farmer, what do you see? Probably not a pocket gopher — a small, solitary rodent that tunnels through the soil and munches on roots all across North and Central America.
That said, recent research in Current Biology reveals that some southeastern pocket gophers cultivate and collect the roots in their tunnel walls to sustain themselves. The findings also raise important questions about what actually counts as ‘agriculture.’
Roots and tubers make up the vast majority of southeastern pocket gophers’ meals, and researchers from the University of Florida, Gainesville find that a significant portion of these roots and tubers come from inside their own tunnels. In fact, they figure that invading roots provide anywhere from 20 to 60 percent of the daily food intake of many gophers.
More than merely collecting the roots that they stumble across, these gophers create conditions in their tunnels that actively promote ...
