{"id":21083,"date":"2018-03-26T01:01:58","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T05:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=21083"},"modified":"2018-03-27T09:17:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-27T13:17:14","slug":"students-get-cozy-degus-chile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2018\/03\/students-get-cozy-degus-chile\/","title":{"rendered":"Field Notes: Students get cozy with degus in Chile"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the foot of the Andes Mountains in central Chile lives the degu, a small mammal who looks like she could be the hamster\u2019s cousin. Skittering through intricate tunnel systems or on above-ground paths, their black-tipped tails erect in the air, they spend their days foraging for food and their nights in burrows under the ground.<\/p>\n

For years, UTC students have traveled thousands of miles to study these little creatures.<\/p>\n

Dr. Loren Hayes<\/a>, associate professor of biology, geology and environmental science, has spent the past 15 years studying the degu, particularly how they behave socially. Hayes sends graduate and undergraduate students to Chile, where they meet up with students from universities in Chile and the U.S. to study the mammal, which is teaching them about the social lives of animals and how ecology shapes cooperative behaviors.<\/p>\n

\n

About the National Science Foundation\u2019s International Research Experience for Students program<\/strong><\/p>\n

The program supports science and engineering students participating in research and research-related activities at the international level. By investing in the work of graduates and undergraduates, the government-funded program \u201cadvances knowledge to sustain global leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about IRES.<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more about NSF.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Degus have certain characteristics that make them unique for studying. They live in large groups with mothers caring for all the offspring, not just those that they produced. This little mammal exemplifies the adage \u201cIt takes a village to raise a child\u201d to a whole new level. Their communal commitment to care means that mothers provide milk to young that are not their own. That giving away of milk that is so precious, that took so much energy for the mother to produce, is of particular interest to Hayes and his students.<\/p>\n

In theory, Hayes says, it would make more sense for the communal nursing to take place among relatives because they share common genes and \u201cselection favors the passing on of one\u2019s genes to the next generation.\u201d But that\u2019s not what is happening with degus. Typically, the groups are not close families.<\/p>\n

The ongoing project has generated 30 publications in scientific journals and also a book. Since 2005, 36 U.S. students, several from UTC, have been to Chile with support from the National Science Foundation\u2019s program: International Research Experience for Students (IRES).<\/p>\n

The degus, Hayes says, have taught researchers the how and why social species react to extreme changes in their environment. A lack of food supply caused by an unusually dry season, for example, is an instance when the degus\u2019 communal way of life proves beneficial. This understanding is valuable for humans, too, as more extreme weather patterns develop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Two

During unusually extreme seasons, the degus’ communal way of life proves beneficial. Student submitted photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

The student experiences<\/h3>\n

Before graduating in December, Dylan Fountaine \u201917 spent a semester of his senior year in Chile\u2019s national park, Bosques de Fray Jorge, studying the degu. The cost for his travel and research was almost completely covered by IRES. He only had to worry about buying food.<\/p>\n

\"Grillo

Graduate student, Grillo, and a ‘goo. Student submitted photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

He and two other student researchers were up every morning before the sun so they could make it to their field station in the still hours of dawn. After the cold walk, they fastened bags around their waist, strapped on their headlamps and set out for the degu burrows. As they got closer to a burrow, the metal telemetry antenna they held in their hands would beep, letting them know if one of the degus had spent the night nearby. Traps\u2014which didn\u2019t harm the degus\u2014were set into place before the local animals emerged and began to scavenge for food.<\/p>\n

Then the group began their rounds again. This time, the traps with degus waiting inside were carried back to their field station. Once collected, the students spent the bulk of their day with the degus, measuring, weighing, recording their reproductive status and observing their personalities. Some days they caught as many as 200 degus.<\/p>\n

For Sara Grillo, a UTC graduate student studying environmental science, the next step to their days in the field was her favorite: returning the degus to their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe dropped them off at the burrow where we caught them, and I usually took a second to watch them leave the trap and do their thing. Some would run straight to safety. But most would linger outside, either dust-bathing or foraging or simply sniffing my boots before scurrying off,\u201d Grillo says.<\/p>\n

Grillo grew attached to the degus, or \u2019goos as she calls them. The degus grew to expect and anticipate their morning visits. \u201cThe \u2019goos would walk out of their burrows in the morning as soon as they heard us approach,\u201d Grillo says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re probably what I miss the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Waves

Chile’s Pacific coast. Student submitted photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h3>\n

More than research<\/h3>\n

The Chilean landscape, \u201ca vast sea of cactuses and prickly shrubs\u201d as Grillo describes, was unlike the confined spaces of the mountains and valleys in Chattanooga and the Appalachian region.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who\u2019s never been west of the Mississippi, the open space represented freedom, discovery and environmental awareness,\u201d Grillo says.<\/p>\n

Fountaine recalls one stunning moment with a glazed look and smile on his face. They were up in the forest, their backs to the Pacific Ocean, and they could see the snow-capped Andes marking the eastern border of Chile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could see from one side of Chile to the other. That was mind-blowing to me,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Even with the intense schedule of days in the field and nights crunching data, the students snuck in some time to explore Chile beyond the thorny shrubs and cactuses that dotted the landscape around their field station.<\/p>\n

They explored Chile\u2019s capital, Santiago, with walking tours and forks and spoons, eating their way through the large city.<\/p>\n

They visited a village where students had stayed in previous years. It was along the border of the park where they had conducted their own research. The visit was short, but the community treated the students as if they had known them their whole lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a giant feast and everybody from the village came. It was like a family. I was shocked. In my house in Knoxville, I don\u2019t know my neighbors’ names. But to see these people, who live miles away from each other and they know what\u2019s going on in each other\u2019s lives, it\u2019s a giant family,\u201d Fountaine says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the foot of the Andes Mountains in central Chile lives the degu, a small mammal who looks like she could be the hamster\u2019s cousin. For years, UTC students have traveled thousands of miles to study these little creatures.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":858,"featured_media":21087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,123865,61,7712,48007,661],"tags":[70424,70425,70428,70423,70426,70427],"class_list":{"0":"post-21083","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-biology-geology-and-environmental-science","9":"category-college-of-arts-sciences","10":"category-faculty-and-staff","11":"category-research-academics","12":"category-students","13":"tag-chile","14":"tag-degus","15":"tag-dylan-fountaine","16":"tag-ires","17":"tag-loren-hayes","18":"tag-sara-grillo","19":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nField Notes: Students get cozy with degus in Chile | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At the foot of the Andes Mountains in central Chile lives the degu, a small mammal who looks like she could be the hamster\u2019s cousin. 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