Testing the interspecific body size principle in ungulates: the smaller they come, the harder they groom

摘要

Tick removal grooming may be centrally regulated by an internal timing mechanism operating to remove ticks before they attack and engorge (programmed grooming model) and/or evoked by cutaneous stimulation from tick bites (stimulus-driven model). The programmed grooming model predicts that organismic and environmental factors that impact the cost-benefit ratio of grooming (e.g.body size and habitat) will influence the rate of tick removal grooming.