Some peculiarities of the sense organ structure and orientation of the Russian desman (Desmana moschata L., 1758)
Morphological structures of Russian desman sense organs providing its orientation were studied. The morphology of the desman vibrissal apparatus and microvibrissae of its rhinarium were described. The underwater behavior of desman in artificial ponds was described. Mechanism of animal food search under water was studied. This mechanism has been formulated in such way: using distant reception with vibrissae desman detects the location of alive prey, which represents a source of hydrodynamic fluctuations, then finds and identifies it with snout. This orientation way greatly reduces the search space, making under water animal stay more efficient.