Great Basin Naturalist Volume 55 Number 1 Article 8 1-16-1995 Whipworm (Trichuris dipodomys) infection in kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.): effects on digestive efficiency James C. Munger Boise State University, Boise, idaho Todd A. Slichter Boise State University, Boise, Idaho Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Munger, James C. and Slichter, Todd A. (1995) "Whipworm (Trichuris dipodomys) infection in kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.): effects on digestive efficiency," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 55 : No. 1 , Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol55/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Great Basin Naturalist 55(1), © 1995, pp. 74-77 WHIPWORM (TRICHURIS DIPODOMYS) INFECTION IN KANGAROO RATS (DIPODOMYS SPP): EFFECTS ON DIGESTIVE EFFICIENCY James C. Mungerl and Todd A. Slichterl ABSTRACT.-To dcterminc whether infections by whipworms (Trichuris dipodumys [Nematoda: Trichurata: Trichuridae]) might affect digestive eHlciency and therefore enel"/,,'Y budgets of two species ofkangaroo rats (Dipodomys microps and Dipodumys urdU [Rodentia: Heteromyidae]), we compared the apparent dry matter digestibility of three groups of hosts: those naturally infected with whipworms, those naturally uninfected with whipworms, and those origi~ nally naturally infected but later deinfected by treatment with the anthelminthic Ivermectin. Prevalence of T. dipodomys was higher in D. rnicrops (.53%) than in D. ordU (14%). Apparent dry matter digestibility was reduced by whipworm infection in D.