This cute little rodent runs a real ‘carrot farm’.

Goffers are enigmatic creatures that spend their entire lives underground. Here they dig extensive tunnels, sometimes up to 100 meters long. It is known that the rodents mainly eat underground roots. But now researchers in a new study discovers that goffers don’t just eat carrots that happen to grow in the paths of newly excavated tunnels. They appear to have a real food production system that qualifies as ‘agriculture’.

Roots

Goffers create a large labyrinth underground made up of numerous winding tunnels. By the way, they live here alone; goffers are solitary animals that dwell alone in tunnels dug out themselves. “It’s dark and wet, like a sewer pipe,” said researcher Jack Putz. “The roots grow inward like stalactites and stalagmites, covering the walls of their tunnel.”

manure

Fortunately, that is no problem for the goffer. Carrots are their main food source. However, in a new study, the researchers wondered if they could get enough energy from this to support their intensively digging lifestyle. This question eventually led to a surprising discovery. Because digging a tunnel turns out to cost far too much energy that is not simply compensated by eating accidental roots that grow in the tunnels. To get enough energy, goffers appear to promote root growth in their tunnels by spreading their own manure throughout the vast labyrinth.

Agriculture

According to the researchers, this means that Goffers are actually engaged in farming. They promote root growth in the tunnels and harvest those roots for food. Harvesting the roots may also explain why goffers build such elaborate labyrinths and defend them fiercely, the team says; the tunnels are similar to rows of crops. It means that humans are no longer the only mammals that ‘farmers’. Because this cute rodent can also do something.

ants

While no other mammals are known to burp, other animals certainly do. For example, think of attini; ants that live with fungi. The ants sow and tend fields of fungi and protect them from disease with antibiotics, similar to how human farmers often use herbicides against weeds. Unlike these ants, goffers do not sow or weed their crops. And while goffers do harvest their roots to survive and take steps to defend their crops and promote growth, the new study reveals that the definition of “agriculture” is far from clear.

Definition

“It really depends on how ‘agriculture’ is defined,” notes Putz. “If farming requires crops to be planted, the goffer is not eligible. But this seems much too strict a definition. For example, many animals – as well as various human cultures – use horticultural techniques that involve caring for crops that they did not plant themselves. Consider, for example, fruit trees in forests. I think the whole issue is intellectually exciting because it hasn’t really been resolved yet.” But if what goffers do indeed count as farming, then goffers are the first non-human mammals known to farm.

The researchers hope the debate will draw attention to the often-overlooked rodents. “Goffers are much more interesting than people give them credit,” said researcher Veronica Selden. “They are really important biobuilders that deserve more attention.” And whether or not the goffer can be called a farmer, the way they ‘grow’ carrots is interesting for further research anyway.