Organism
Eastern Gray Squirrel
TL;DR
The Eastern gray squirrel is the chapter's central organism, demonstrating the costs and benefits of distributed storage (caching).
The Eastern gray squirrel is the chapter's central organism, demonstrating the costs and benefits of distributed storage (caching). Each squirrel buries 3,000-10,000 acorns annually, spending 42-62 hours on burial alone. With 70-80% retrieval rates, 20-30% of caches are never recovered - but these become oak trees, making squirrels the primary dispersal mechanism for oak forests.
Notable Traits of Eastern Gray Squirrel
- Caches 3,000-10,000 acorns annually
- 70-80% retrieval rate using spatial memory
- Unretrieved acorns become oak trees