This laboratory study examined responses of Israeli blind subterranean mole
rats (of the Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies) to food odours (Narcissus taz
etta and Urginea maritima bulbs) and assessed to what extent mole rats' odo
ur preferences are indicative of their food preferences and whether these p
references influence their foraging behaviour. Prior to odour testing, mole
rats ate Narcissus bulbs preferentially and avoided Urginea bulbs when bot
h types of bulbs were available, as is the case in nature. In phase 1, mole
rats (n = 20) spent significantly more time sniffing the odour of Narcissu
s bulbs than the odour of Urginea bulbs, indicating a preference for the od
our of the preferred bulb. In phase 2 in a six-tunnel radial arm maze, the
presence of preferred or non-preferred food odours at the ends of the 20 cm
tunnels did not affect mole rats' (n = 12) movement into the tunnels. The
results suggest that mole rats can identify food items by their odours and
thus can discriminate between edible (e.g., Narcissus) and poisonous (e.g.,
Urginea) bulbs without the necessity of biting into them. Because there is
limited air movement in mole rats' sealed tunnel systems, the food odours
do not travel far underground, and thus mole rats probably do not use detec
tion of airborne food odours to facilitate their foraging underground. Our
results suggest that mole rats could use food odour discrimination to selec
t edible food items for collection and to sort food items in their nest sto
res.